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BX 8601 .M675 v.l 1904
The Mormon point ot view ;
BX 8601 .M675 v.l 1904
The Mormon point o-f view ;
RICKS COLLEGE LRC
3 1404 00 146 2347
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RICKS COLLEGE
DAVID O. McKAY LRC
REXBURG, i
TH€3!
iv N. L.
Untver-
A Quarterly Magazine, owned and edited b
Nelson. Professor of English, Brigham "Young I
sity. Price, $1.00 a year; single copies, 30 cents. Office,
445 N. 4 E., Provo City, Utah. Second-class postage ap-
plied for.
Vol. I. Provo City, Utah, Jan. 1, 1P04. No. 1.
RICKS COLLEGE
DAVID O. McKAY LRC
REXBURG, IDAHO 83440
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2013
http://archive.org/details/mormonpointofvieOOnels
The Mormon Point of View.
EDITORIAL COMMENT.
WHY THIS MAGAZINE IS NEEDED.
Looking upward from my study window
toward the east, I see a magnificent range
of mountains, — rugged and precipitous in
their lower reaches, covered midway with a
sombre belt of pines, lastly capped in the
dazzling whiteness of eternal snows. On
the south I look out upon a splendid valley,
lately a sunburnt-desert echoing to the me-
talic screech of the cricket; now variegated
with garden, meadow, field, and orchard,
and broken here and there by a succession
of rural towns. The connection between
what I see respectively from the two win-
dows of my study, — between the snow-drifts
on the mountain tops and the smiling val-
ley below, — is too obvious to need pointing
out.
Why this Magazine is Needed. 3
tion, a hereafter of our dreams. There is
no heaven other tHn the Here and Now, —
no hell more dreadful than that which over-
takes the sinner every day, — if he could but
realize the deadening effect, the soul-paral-
ysis, of his evil deeds.
That there will be a future Heaven, both
as to mental state and also as to locality, — a
time and place in which the Here and Now
shall have advanced ineffably in glory —
who can doubt that observes the trend of
human life? That there will also be a
future Hell — the sum-total both as to place
and mental state, of the daily accumulations
of discord in the soul, — accompanied per-
haps by a keen awakening, — is also past
question to any believer in the persistency
of life after death, who notes the progress-
ive downward tendency of the unrepentant
sinner. These future epochs in the soul
may readily be conceded.
The point to bear in mind, however, is
this: that future states, being progressively
the outcome of present states, do not differ
from their precursors in kind but only in
degree ; and consequently, that any Here
and Now is heaven or hell to us at a given
time, in precisely the same sense that the
future will be, when it in turn becomes ouf
But in a more spiritual sense, let us live
this miracle of transformation over again.
Let those dazzling banks of congealed health
and wealth, — pure, beautiful, enhaloed by
heaven's own blue, but withal cold and dis-
tant, — stand for the religious ideals of man-
kind. Next let the valley again be con-
ceived as barren and unfruitful ; let its
teeming and throbbing evidences of life, its
marvelous commingling of form, color,
sound, and motion, be counted for what
they are — the world of Mammon in which
we live, and breathe, and have our being;
overlook all these things, and still see vast
stretches of soul-barrenness among man-
kind.
Then the purpose of this magazine is
to help melt those snows — those lofty ideal-
izations of theology and philosophy — and
cause them to flow downward to the thirsty
valley of spiritual life; help dig the canals
and laterals to the sun-baked regions of the
human heart; help direct the emancipated
streams of God's truth upon the social,
moral, and spiritual deserts in a world given
up to greed and self-seeking.
Religion must be socialized; it has too
long been cultivated for the sake of a hypo-
thetical Heaven — a paradise of the imagina-
4
The Mormon Point of View.
Here and Now. Furthermore, as we shall
be able to realize those future states only as
time thus brings us into them, it follows
that the only Heaven man need strive for,
the only Hell he need fear, is the Heaven or
the Hell of daily living.
It is the failure to keep this elementary
fact in mind that has led to most of the
shams and artificialities in religion. Men
walk through this life with their eyes glued
upon a paradise in the clouds, and so miss
the only paradise the universe has to offer
them, the paradise of the natural (which is
also the spiritual) world around them ; their
imaginations being filled with a mystic
"beatific vision" remote in time and space,
they fail to find and commune with God and
Christ daily, from the rising to the setting
of the sun ; dreaming as they do of a heaven
"beyond the bounds of time and space,"
they become callous to their responsibilities
in the social world, the world of men and
brave deeds — the only heaven man is yet
fitted to know. It is thus that men are
blinded to the majesty and glory of God's
creations here below ; neither enjoying the
bliss to be felt in this present heaven, nor
helping to increase that bliss for themselves
— in the only way it can be done — by trying
Why this Magazine is Needed. ■>
to increase the bliss of the Here and Now
for others.
Let the mind travel for a moment over
the make-believes that have been contrived
through the ages to blind man to his only-
heaven, the Here and Now — and make him
shirk his duties in it. First, the notion
that bliss is an ethereal something located
in a still more etherial somewhere; second,
that to attain it, "man can do nothing for
himself, — the blessed Savior must do it
all ;" third, the consequent degeneration of
the virile worship of "doing," into a maud-
lin worship of merely singing and praying;,
fourth, the mechanical conception that sal-
vation, instead of being an organic — that is
to say — a living, growing state of the soul,
is an external relation, — a coming-out-of-
some-place or going-into-some-place state
of the soul, — that can be affected by the
prayers and importunings of other men, by
the absolution of priests, or by the perform-
ing of pilgrimages, the building of church-
es, and things of like nature; sixth, the con-
sequent thousand-fold variety of pitiful sub-
terfuges designed to bribe Peter and cheat
Lucifer, — pitiful because of their bare-faced
transparency ; the result of it all being, that
the really vital relations affecting the desti-
Why this Magazine is Needed. 7
Babylon. They are still struggling with
the tide of heredity. Their heads are above
water, truly enough — which is to say, they
see the better way; but their bodies are
swept onward by the almost resistless cur-
rent of tradition and convention. Or, to
return to my first figure, their ideals, like
snow-banks, lie unmelted high in the blue
heavens of theory. When confronted by
some desperate condition of society, they
will all say, (and say truly) : . "That will
never be settled until it is settled according
to the Gospel." But when asked to point
out the definite remedy for it in the Gospel,
they return a vague answer. They see the
snow on the mountain top, and they know
its life-giving virtues ; but how to make it
reach the arid social spot, they are quite
content to leave solely to the Lord; the
while they go on living a "respectable" life ;
that is to say, the narrow, self-seeking life
which custom and convention have saddled
upon them.
Let me not be too severe, however; Lat-
ter-day Saints have done something toward
cutting loose from Babylon, — so much, in-
deed, that the "doing" side of their religion
is made the occasion at present of wide-
spread ministerial alarm. In colonizing,
*» The Mormon Point of View.
aiy of mankind, — the relations which min-
isters of the Gospel call secular affairs — are
left, in the language of these same called
and chosen (!) to the "devil;" that is to
say, in the hands of men and women who
liave not "got religion."
Latter-day Saints, realizing as they do
that salvation is a progressive coming into
harmony with law ; that heaven, the expres-
sion of that harmony, is a state of the soul,
"which inevitably causes gravitation to-
wards a place ; that both state and place are
ziow, and ever will be, on this earth ; — re-
alizing, I repeat, these fundamental truths,
their religion finds no place for the pious
artificialities above enumerated.
That is to say, in theory. In practice
they are far from being free from them.
Although it is preached every Sunday that
the Gospel involves the sum-total of man's
activities, secular or otherwise, — no one
principle of truth being holier than another,
—yet they go on looking skyward toward a
hypothetical heaven, to the shameful neglect
of the Here and Now ; all the time knowing,
but not realizing, that the Heaven to come
can be entered only by him who has seen
and felt and lived the heaven that is here.
What is the matter? They are still in
8 The Mormon Point of View.
for instance, they have carried out the poli-
cy of small farms, with every family in pos-
session of a home. In domestic life, they
have come to regard adultery as a crime
second only to murder, and made the stand-
ard of chastity equal for both sexes. So,
too, they believe in the natural right of eve-
ry worthy woman, as well as of every wor-
thy man, to honorable posterity ; but are re-
strained, by choice of the lesser of two
evils, from longer acting out the ideal. Some
ideals — such as co-operation and the United
Order — have been tried and found practic-
ally beyond them : they are not far enough
emancipated from Babylon as yet. Other
ideals are looming up before them, as the
dawn of progress brightens into day ; but
after all is said, it is extremely difficult for
them to change the inertia which holds them
in the ruts ot conventionality — next to im-
possible to leaven completely the dough of
their worldliness. Practice drags woeful-
ly behind theory.
Naturally enough, — and would it were
truer than it is ! — whenever the opportunity
of "doing" presents a choice, as in politics,
every Mormon acts in a way to conserve
and promote his own ideals, rather than
the ideals of his opponents. Nor is there
Why this Magazine is Needed. 9
the slightest occasion — how could there be?
— for him to receive "dictation" from eccle-
siastical superiors. To expect him to act
differently is to suppose him devoid of com-
mon horse sense. Herein lies the only
coloring- of truth in the oft-repeated charge
of union between church and state. As the
Mormon's religion involves the sum-total of
his aspirations and activities, it follows that
politics, and all the functions of government
to which it leads, must appeal to the same
standard of conscience as any other truth or
duty in life. How could Mormons do other-
wise than act together?
It is this all-inclusive notion of religion
that ministers of the Gospel should attack;
instead of stooping to lend a false aspect
to some detail in the expression of it. "Why
can't you people be like the rest of us?"
said Grover Cleveland. Here was an in-
vitation to come down to the world's dead
level of conventionality ; accepting such
ideals of life as respectability ( !) sanctions,
and for religion a set of innocuous beliefs,
the acting out of which is reserved for a
hypothetical future world! Mr. Cleveland
could have promised peace as a reward for
such a surrender, also the good fellowship
of all "Christians," and finally — oblivion.
Why this Magazine is Needed. 11
is, that we have need to change, or rather
enlarge, the range of our methods. Hither-
to it has sufficed to present the truth from
its purely scriptural aspect. As a result,
we have succeeded in gathering just that
class of people — simple, honest, guileless,
spiritual-minded Nathanaels — whom it was
desirable to have as foundation stones for
this new order of society. But there are
others no less worthy: hard-headed think-
ers, trained in the exact methods of mod-
ern schools ; doubting Thomases of art, sci-
ence, mechanics, and business, who value
unsupported authority as nothing, even
though it be Biblical ; without whom, never-
theless, no scheme of social reform can pass
very far beyond the speculative stage. In-
deed, considering the constantly diminish-
ing returns of our missionary work, it is
pretty evident that the world has, during
the last half century, veered almost com-
pletely around from the Nathanael to the
Thomas type of mind. Scriptural propa-
ganda is no longer effective.
Now, there is no arguing against facts.
These men must be appealed to as they can
be, not as they can't. If the ideals of Mor-
monism can be presented in the terms of
natural science and philosophy; if the prin-
10 The Mormon Point of View.
"If ye were of the world, the world would
love its own." But may the day never
come when Mormons shall value that love
higher than their ideals; for the "love of
the world is death."
No. Mormonism cannot compromise
with any religion on earth, nor with any
other system at variance with its principles ;
for Mormonism does not bring into the
world the peace of a pusillanimous sur-
render; it brings the sword of God's own
truth. Let the apologist, the time-server,
and the coward, take warning, therefore,
and desert to the other side. There is no
place in the Church of Jesus Christ of Lat-
ter-day Saints for the half-hearted or the
white-livered.
Our warfare is against error and injus-
tice wheresoever, whensoever, and howso-
ever intrenched. Nor can wrongs escape
us by being dubbed social, educational, sci-
entific, secular, political, economic, or other-
wise ; for truth recognizes no such artificial
distinctions. Ministers of sectarian church-
es may continue to narrow their work to
what they call evangelizing, — Mormonism
can contemplate nothing short of the social
regeneration of the world.
And this brings me to my point; which
12 The Mormon Point of View.
ciples underlying our religion can be identi-
fied with the facts involved in economic,
educational, and sociological processes, then
they will listen; for just now the relations
of man to his fellow man is the one absorb-
ing theme of humanity.
Besides, this unfolding of the Gospel far
down into its social, educational, and eco-
nomic bearings, is needed more urgently
among the Latter-day Saints themselves,
than among the world. Progress in any
direction implies a previous knowledge of
the way. We are all convinced that this
despised social nucleus called Mormonism,
is destined to evolve harmoniously into the
Millennium. Now, it can't be dreamed
there, nor prayed there; it can come only
as the result of a gradual social evolution,
— a gradual shaping and moulding of the
individual into harmony with definite prin-
ciples of truth. God cannot bring it about,
independently of man; any more than He
can save man without man's co-operation.
Surely, then, among a people holding
ideals perfect as ours, and yet making wide-
spread ship-wreck of the simplest social ex-
periments, — I refer to co-operative stores,
— there is need of thinking principles down
to the details of their expression in life:
IV hv this Magazine is Seeded. 13
14 The Mormon Point of Vieiv.
need of melting the abstractions of theory
lying cold on the mountains of speculation,
and releasing their truths that may flow
down and invigorate the c ocial, moral, and
spiritual deserts of the Here and Now.
It is not knowledge, however, that Latter-
day Saints need so much to give to the
world. On the contrary, we need to bor-
row in most directions, rather than to give;
for in this particular, Daniel's prophecy has
been literally fulfilled: "Many shall run to
and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."
But in spite of the increase, the running to
and fro continues. It is in this particular,
then, that v Mormonism can best help the
world : it can contribute a point of view that
shall unify and marshal into one grand,
eternal perspective, all the fragmentary
truths which now serve mainly to distract
mankind. For this work — for the redistri-
bution of the world's knowledge according
to the Mormon point of view, — ten thous-
and abler pens than mine are needed. Let
me not shrink, however, from making a
humble beginning.
What this point of view is, should natur-
ally have formed the leading article of the
opening number. For various reasons,
however, I have reserved it for the second.
On: of these reasons lies in the fact that
I have another article more germane to the
present religious agitation ; viz.. "The Min-
isters and the Mormons,"' a ten-thousand
word thesis on the relative fitness to survive
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints and the sects that are just now howl-
ing against Mormonism. Other articles
are summed up in the general title: "The
Dictionary of Slander," which will be con-
tinued in future numbers.
In conclusion, let me beg the reader's in-
dulgence for a frank, personal statement.
The Lord has blessed me, I believe, with
things to say, and will bless, so long as I
shall remember what and who I am. Yet
my present work throws me into direct
contact — so far as the views above outlined
are concerned — with fewer than one hun-
dred young people each year. I desire to
increase this class to ten thousand. In short,
I would bring the Brigham Young Univer-
sity, so far as my "philosophy of the Gos-
pel" work is concerned, into the home of
every Latter-day Saint. The difficulty con-
fronting me is self-evident. To quote the
brethren of the First Presidency :
"We feel very much gratified by the spirit
of your letter, and pleased with the article aet-
Why this Magazine is Needed. 15
ting forth the reasons why the magazine, which
you propose to publish, is needed. As far as we
are concerned, we should very much like to see
a magazine published such as you have out-
lined; It would undoubtedly be a credit both to
you as its publisher and to our community. But
will It pay financially, and can it be done with-
out financial injury to yourself and family? -
- - - To be frank with you, we are afraid It
will not pay. ----•*
It has required a very high estimate of
the ideas I desire to set forth to induce me
to venture forward in view of such wise
caution as this. Nor can I hope to compen-
sate the subscriber by mere quantity, as
compared with magazines in general. The
merit of this journal — if merit it shall prove
to have — must be in quality ; and in suggest-
ing this, I beg the reader not to think I am
throwing a bouquet at myself, but rather
that I am paying a tribute to the grandeur
of our religion as it unfolds along advanced
lines.
As for the outcome, I am fully aware
that no moral bolstering ever yet succeeded
in keeping alive that which intrinsically de-
served to die, and consequently that my
journalistic venture must, in the end, sur-
vive or perish by that merciless, but still on
the whole very beneficent, law — the survival
of the fittest. In the meanwhile, it may not
16 The Mormon Point of View.
be out of place to suggest that the time to
water a plant that you would really like to
see grow, is while it is struggling for roots,
not after it has failed to demonstrate its
power to live without your aid.
18 The Mormon Point of View.
LEADING ARTICLE
THE MINISTERS AND THE MORMONS.
MINISTERIAL TONGUE VALOR AND ITS RE-
SULTS.
"It [the Mormon Church] is not to be edu-
cated, not to be civilized, not to be reformed-
it must be crushed. No other organization la
so perfect as the Mormon Church, except the
German army." — Rev. Charles Thompson, D. D„
of New York, before the Presbyterian general
assembly at Los Angeles, May 26, 1903.
During the last three quarters of a cen-
tury, remarks like the above have formed
the staple commentary on Mormonism; and
the animus so expressed, bolstered indeed
by whatever facts could be impressed into
such service, has found its way into diction-
ary, cyclopedia, and general history. It
need not be pointed out here that these
harsh judgments have almost invariably
originated with those guardians of our
moral and spiritual civilization, the minis-
ters of the Gospel ; nor need it be wondered
at, therefore, that the Mormons credit the
unbalanced zeal of the preaching fraternity
with being a prime cause of all the mob-
bings and drivings which have marked
them out as the persecuted religion of the
nineteenth century.
To the extent that we Mormons are Lat-
ter-day Saints, we smile at and forget min-
isterial zeal like that quoted above; for our
religion teaches us to "do good to them that
hate and revile us, and to pray fcr them
that despitefully use us, and speak all man-
ner of evil against us."
But to the extent that we are merely
Mormons, that is to say, human beings
trammeled by church forms, we keep tab of
such utterances — and the deeds which often
follow them; whence it happens that by
every human law of offense and reprisal,
the sins of the clerical profession against
the Mormons, should have accumulated by
now past all hope of their ever establishing
among us those bonds of fraternal sympa-
thy which are indispensable to proselyting
work among any people.
As mere human beings, we cannot forget
that it is their prejudiced views and mistak-
en zeal that. have propagated the hundreds
of lurid "Mormonisms Exposed," which
have come to be as necessary as narcotics
to many good people. Naturally enough,
too, we resent the air of superior sanctity
with which these same men condemn our
The Ministers and the Mormons. 19
religion unheard. And if our confidence in
them is shattered by the way in which they
sho<v us up, — from mere fragmentary and
often misquoted passages ; and if our re-
spect follows our confidence, when we see
the obvious connection between our periodi-
cal besmirchment by them, through the
eastern press and pulpit, and their evident
need of funds for the "Mormon crusade,"
is it not precisely what would happen with
any other people under like provocation ?
Now, if this animus of meddling clergy-
men stopped with the godly men them-
selves, one might regard it as a necessary
evil, — a sort of escape-valve for the linger-
ing spirit of Adam in them; but it spreads,
— much faster than righteousness could, —
as any message winged by hate always will ;
so that more than once in the history of
Mormonism a whole continent has been
iniiuined against an unoffending people be-
hind the Rocky mountains.
One can readily imagine the mental pro-
cess by which the opinion of the pastor be-
comes the conviction of the congregation.
Accustomed — not without good reasons — to
consider his judgment as the standard of
righteousness, the flock can only conclude
that what excites godly anger in the shep-
20
The Mormon Point of View.
herd must be bad indeed; and on no other
form of sin does the good man usually wax
so righteously eloquent as on what he is
pleased to call the delusion of Mormonism.
And yet on the other hand, one cannot
help wondering that, in an age of psychic
analysis, several palpable phases of this
wholesale denunciation are overlooked by
the laity in coming to a conclusion. First,
the spectacle of a reverend gentleman turn-
ing red in the face and breaking out into
anathemas against other interpreters of the
religion of Jesus Christ, ought in itself to
excite a cautious wonder; secondly, the fact
that hatred (of Mormons) can temporarily
unite sects which love (of Christ) has never
hitherto brought together, ought at least to
raise a doubt as to the real source of the in-
spiration; thirdly, the fact that Mormonism
thrives in spite of this combined assault of
other religions, ought to suggest that right-
eousness may possibly form a considerable
part in the system- which this ministerial an-
ger denounces; since by the growing wis-
dom of the age, sin is coming to be regarded
as weak, transitory, wholly incapaLle of co-
hesion, — righteousness alone being vigor-
ous enough to form and perpetuate an or-
ganic system.
The Ministers and the Mormons. 21
22
The Mormon Point of View.
All this negative agitation by ministers
of the gospel could be overlooked, however,
as what we ourselves might do under simi-
lar circumstances ; but it will not down even
with the best of us, that in all the drivings,
mobbings, and sanguinary tragedies, which
have accompanied the ostracism of this peo-
ple, the sanctified figure in black has invar-
iably turned up as the immediate plotter and
arch-villain.
If on the whole, therefore, Mormons do
not rush to fill the sectarian churches estab-
lished in our midst; if the advances of sec-
tarian ministers are received with an under-
current of distrust and suspicion; if they
fail to interest, let alone convert us, — the
reason, in part at least, lies evidently in
their general attitude of contempt for us,
and especially in the history of their deal-
ings with us as a people.
<
II.
THE HOLINESS OF THE MORMON CRUSADE.
I
But the supercilious treatment accorded
us by Christian ministers is, after all, only
the minor, the superficial reason for our
mutual antagonism. We are not morbidly
sensitive, nor do we cherish a spirit of re-
The Ministers and the Mormons. 23
The reverend gentleman must not think,
however, ts booklet is concerned, is this:
Mormonism, though starting, as it did, in
the blaze of a scientific age, yet took for its
object of worship the Bible type of God ;
but it did not load itself down with the in-
cubus of mediaeval interpretation.
Like Christ, God is conceived as the per-
fect, man ; but as to the meaning of'perfect-
ed," no theologian of the past, however wise
in the estimation of Christendom, can have
a voice : each man knows God to the extent
that he has grown like him ; and he has
grown like Him to the extent that he has
discovered and obeyed law.
Mormonism thus finds in life, not in met-
aphysical speculation, its commentary upon
scripture. Accordingly, let the reader come
to its investigation not with the pre-judg-
ment that he is to witness the setting up
again of a conception which has fallen a
hundred times in previous polemical battles ;
30
The Mormon Point of View.
brought sufficiently within our ken for us
to generalize them exhaustively, their pro-
gression is toward a goal recognizable by
human intelligence. * *****
Such a theory of things is Theism. It rec-
ognizes an Omnipresent Energy, which is
none other than the living God."
With all which Mormonism is in per-
fect accord, save the last clause. Instead
of being itself the living God, this omni-
present energy is regarded as merely a pal-
pable evidence of the living God.
Suppose no mortal being had ever seen
the sun, nor any other heavenly body to
give him the suggestion of its existence, —
yet its effects on the earth remained pre-
cisely as they are, excepting perhaps the
phenomena of shadow. Under such cir-
cumstances, could the scientist be persuaded
that the phenomena of light, heat, actinism,
magnetism, and electricity were not imme-
diate expresssions of an omnipresent ener-
gy, but were in fact effects of a cause local-
ized in space?
If he could, it ought not to be difficult to
conceive the Mormon idea of God; not in-
deed as that omnipresent energy, nor even
as the creator of that energy — for it is self
existent, eternal — but as the efficient Cause
The Ministers and the Mormons. 37
of its differentiation into the forces known
to man.
To quote Mr. Fiske again: "The fathom-
less abysses of space can no longer be
talked of as empty; they are filled with a
wonderful substance, unlike any of the
forms of matter which we can weigh and
measure. A cosmic jelly infinitely hard
and elastic, it offers at the same time no ap-
preciable resistance to the movements of the
heavenly bodies. It is so sensitive that a
shock in any part of it causes 'a tremor
which is felt on the surface of countless
worlds.' Radiating in every direction, from
millions of centric points, run shivers of un-
dulation manifested in endlesss metamor-
phoses as heat, or light, or actinism, as mag-
netism or electricity. Crossing one another
in every imaginable way as if all space were
crowded with a mesh-work of nervethreads,
these motions go on forever in a harmony
that nothing disturbs. * * * *
"It means that the universe as a whole is
thrilling with Life — not, indeed, life in the
usual restricted sense, but life in a general
sense. The distinction once deemed abso-
lute, between the living and the not-living,
is converted into a relative distinction ; and
Life as manifested in the organism is seen
The Ministers and the Mormons. 39
invent. Without God, the medium would
remain changeless, inert, throughout all
eternity, having no power of initiation with-
in itself.
This medium, which is coextensive with
the universe, would, if unimpressed by God,
perhaps present no attrition (i. e. no phe-
nomena) to the present state of our intelli-
gence ; the alternative fact, that this medium
does present attrition to our senses, is there-
fore only another way of saying that God
by virtue of his will is 'in all things, through
all things, above all things, below all things'
— the animating principle of the created
universe.
To put the distinction in scriptural terms,
what Christians recognize as God the Fath-
er, Latter-day Saints perceive to be the Holy
Ghost (i. e. the universal medium colored
bv the will of God). Christ himself draws
this distinction: "Howbeit when He the
spirit of Truth is come, he will guide you
into all truth ; for he shall not speak of him-
self, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall
he speak." Showing that the power of
initiation does not lie with the Holy Ghost
but with God.
The failure to keep this distinction in
mind is explicable perhaps on the ground
38 The Mormon Point of View.
to be only a specialized form of the Univer-
sal Life."
All this Mormonism believes implicitly,
and goes one better. As early as 1832, sev-
en years before Mohr announced the law of
the conservation and correlation of energy,
Joseph Smith identified all the cosmic forces
with which man is familiar as differentia-
tions of one supreme Force; declaring,
moreover, — and this is where Mormonism
is still in advance of the age, — that man's
ability to perceive truth — the power vari-
ously known as inspiration, genius, intellec-
tual penetration — is only a higher power of
this same "infinite and eternal Energy;"
that is to say, just as a certain rate of vi-
bration of ether gives the sensation of heat,
and another rate the sensation of light, so
still other rates, progressively varied, ac-
count for all the psychic states resulting
from our perceptions, respectively, of the
many-angled aspects of a single supreme
Force — the one universal harmony of
Truth.
But this power is not God: it is merely
the medium through which He works, plus
His will impressed upon the medium. With-
out the medium, God would be helpless to
execute, while still retaining all his power to
40 The Mormon Point of View.
that it is only through this universal medi-
um that God's will is made to bear upon
man ; just as it is only through the medium
of the ether that the sun can influence the
earth. Nevertheless such failure to perceive
the distinction between God and the medi-
um through which He works does not differ
in kind from that which should fail to see
the architect and builder behind the gray-
granite temple in Salt Lake City. It is, in
fact, a blindness of the same kind as that
which would postulate an "all-soul" resid-
ing in the materials used, as the adequate
cause of the phenomena presented in all the
mutations of the materials.
And yet preposterous as seems this last
supposition, let us see how nearly true it is,
in fact. The gray-granite quarry, — to use
again my illustration of the Temple, — exists
only by virtue of the "infinite and eternal
energy," which Christians identify with
God, but which Latter-day Saints identify
with the basic medium of the Holy Ghost;
so do all other materials used, and so also
do the architect and builders themselves;
indeed, the very intelligence necessary to
plan the Temple, and all the mechanical
powers used in its construction, are trans-
The Ministers and the Mormons. 41
42 The Mormon Point of View.
mutations, more or less remote, of this same
universal spirit.
What remains then for its finite creators?
The initiative, and in a relative sense, the
masterv of the materials and forces involved
in its construction.
Here then we come face to face with the
essential characteristic of God : the power of
initiative and the mastery of materials and
forces ; not indeed mastery and control in
the clumsy, mechanical fashion in which
man seeks to imitate creative intelligence;
but in the absolute triumph of mind over
not-mind. In these two facts, — the power
to invent and the will to execute, — lies the
supremacy of God over the universe, even
though He himself be limited in form to
the Christ-type of being.
In no other way are creation and control
intelligible to man; for to place initiative
and the mastery of the materials and
forces in the materials and forces
themselves, is unthinkable. It is a postulate
that never has appealed and never can ap-
peal to the experience of man, and, is there-
fore no more worthy of credence than are
the vagaries of Buddha's dream; among
which, indeed, it stands foremost.
If the Source of the Mormon religion —
The Ministers and the Mormons. 43
It seeems to me the utterest folly to at-
tempt a generalization of religion in a sin-
gle stroke. Pie who can do it, knows too
much for this world, and should promptly
take his seat among the angels; or else he
knows too little, and should have the foster-
ing care of a mental hospital.
Nevertheless, some broad lines of differ-
entiation need to be drawn between what,
in religion, tends to serve and what tends
to hinder the evolution of the human race.
With this reservation, then, that our find-
ings are to be regarded only as a groping
after the truth, let us face the question.
What should be the place of religion in the
economy of life?
In a previous chapter I took the ground
that a religion to be virile enough to make
for the betterment of the race, must be
founded on a living faith — faith in a Being
who can be both loved and feared ; also that
the first requisite of such a faith is, that the
Object of it be a Reality not a metaphysical
abstraction, and the second requisite that He
be a sympathetic Reality.
But if religion is to be regarded as a gild-
ed something superimposed upon life, a so-
ciety for the culture, and especially for the
display, of a religiously veneered estheti-
and what we believe should be the Source
of all virile religion — is thus made clear, I
am ready to answer the next pertinent ques-
tion connected with this general compar-
ison: What is the true place of religion in
the economy of life ?
VI.
RELIGION AS A SPECIAL FUNCTION OF LIFE.
"Religion," says one of the growing crop
of corrosive pens, "religion — the childish
mistaking of pictures for facts, — the crass
materialization of allegory, — the infinite tal-
ent of man for humbugging himself, — and
underneath it all the shadowy outline of
Truth."
It is something to be an iconoclast — there
is work for him among the tottering, ivy-
grown institutions that are out-living the
ages when they really severed mankind; it
is more to be a builder. The philistine I
have just quoted assumes to be the arbiter
of religion as well as the oracle of Truth.
Verily, we have progressed since Pilate's
day. Here is a man who not only knows
what Truth is, but is able to recognize her
outline even when shadowy. Or is he after
all only a phrase-maker ?
44 The Mormon Point of View.
cism, then there is little need of real faith —
the less indeed the better. Its immaculate
pastors can, with a long pair of scriptural
tongs, dip for themes into the turbid stream
of life, and so escape soiling their white
hands by contact with men and women still
of the earth earthy.
Its votaries, placidly conscious that they
are already saved, can sit back in cushioned
pews, while sin is idealized salvation drama-
tized, and a sense of their own righteousness
is distilled upon them like dew. The Church
will thus remain eminently holy and respec-
table, and will draw to its fold all the I-am-
holier-than-thou worshipers who can afford
the luxury.
True, along with this heaven-tending, se-
lective culture, there are .likely to grow a
few incidental evils; such as, artificial
righteousness, spiritual snobbery, religious
shams and make-believes, a sniveling,
psalm-singing cant, and hypocrisy unadul-
terated ; but then who expects, in this vale
of tears, to find any garden of holiness
without a few weeds here and there?
It is this conception of religion, so widely
prevalent among Christian sects of today, —
the fashionable church retaining, to use the
language of scripture, "the form of Godli-
The Ministers and the Mormons. 45
46 The Mormon Point of View.
ness, but lacking the power thereof," — that
Elbert Hubbard and his school of icono-
clasts are inveighing against. Lay on, ye
philistines ; a ranker sham, a more bediz-
zened artificiality, does not grow in the field
of social progress today.
Religion may next be conceived as a di-
vine something which is to be integrated or
interwoven with life; a daily and hourly
burnisher of the conscience; an unostenta-
tious something that goes with a man to the
field, the work shop, or the office, and
guides through love or restrains through
fear all the thoughts and acts, great and
small, which make up the warp and woof of
his complex life.
This conception involves, on the one side,
a fervid, perhaps unreasoning faith in the
ever-present love of God, or at least of the
Savior; and on the other, the total deprav-
ity or essential vileness of human life, in
and of itself.
Man is conceived as belonging to an or-
der of being somewhat above the ants, and
somewhat below the angels; with power to
rise, through the medium of religion, into
the heavenly spheres, but doomed without
its power, to sink to the depths of hell.
This conception really represents a stage
rather than a kind of religion. It represents
the dogmatic, just as the first conception
represents the philosophic, stage of almost
everv sect in Christendom. It is, however,
uistinctly a factor in the social betterment
of the race ; as witness the present efforts of
the Salvation Army.
The difference between these two concep-
tions lies in the fact that the first is not only
itself a holy sham, but a breeder of correla-
tive social shams — a religion which at best
"but skins and films the ulcerous places" in
society ; while the second is an earnest,
whole-souled effort to probe, cleanse, and
fill with health the putrescent moral nature
of man. The defect of both alike lies in the
fact that they are mere specialized functions
of life ; seeking to do for the soul by spirit-
ual unction, what the physician tries to do
for the body with drop and pill.
VII.
RELIGION CONCEIVED AS LIFE ITSELF.
There is still a third conception of the
right place of religion; not as something
superimposed upon life, nor as something
integrated with life, but as life itself — life
from God's point of view, which is the only
real, true, eternal life.
The Ministers and the Mormons. 47
This is the central thought of Mormon-
ism. God is conceived as the Father — in a
very literal sense — of the spirits of all men.
He must himself therefore be, like Christ, a
glorified, perfected man. These spirits,
again like Christ, their elder brother, lived
a spiritually organized, premortal life, per-
haps for thousands, perhaps for millions
of years ; and the ego, the I AM, or princi-
ple of self-consciousness, never had a be-
ginning.
This earth by the Mormon conception, is
not a pestilent island in the ocean of eter-
nity, where souls are quarantined for sin,
as the dismalists among Christians would
have us believe ; on the contrary, it is a
world prepared by our Father in heaven for
the transplanting of his children ; a glorious
university — the only real university — for
the development of His sons and daughters.
These sons and daughters do not belong
to an order of being lower than that of God
himself, and are therefore not "totally de-
praved ;" their so-called deformities of sin
are, for the most part, merely the deform-
ities incident to growth and development;
the deformities of the scaffolding as com-
pared with the perfected house.
Sin itself as ordinarily understood is little
48 The Mormon Point of View.
else than relative righteousness ; that is to
say, what would be sin for a higher order
of intelligence is often virtue for a lower.
This is not denying, however, that there is
real sin, recognizable alike in all grades of
being ; nor that there is a real Devil, capable
of tempting men to evil.
From the conception that earth-life is a
definitely-planned, and very necessary part
in the eternal education of man, it follows
that heaven is not some impossible region,
remote in time and space, to which the soul
flies at death; heaven is the HERE and
NOW, and a million years hence in the life
of the soul, will still be the here and now.
That is to say, heaven is always a present,
not a future, state of the soul; and if any
being would know the extent, — the height,
depth, and breadth, — of bliss which the uni-
verse has in store for him at any time, let
him take stock of how much heavenly beau-
ty he sees, and feels, and LIVES, in the
creations immediately around him.
His future Here and Now will no doubt
be ineffably enhanced in glory; but only on
the condition that the beauties and glories
between the present and the future state
shall have been progressively seen, and felt,
and lived ; only on the condition that he pro-
The Ministers and the Mormons. -±9
gressively accumulate in himself what Dr.
Jordan calls the higher heredity.
Let him not foolishly imagine that he can
fly from the one state into the other;
for the farther he would go, either
backward or forward from the here and
now of any stage in his progress, the more
deeply he would sink into hell.
For what is the essential fact of hell if
not a state of discord with one's surround-
ings? Just as heaven represents the up-
ward, forward, positive point of view — the
life that seeks law to the end that it may
come more and more into harmony with
God ; so hell is the negative, reactionary, re-
bellious point of view — the life which, op-
posing itself to the harmony of the universe,
is in process of being undone. It was with
profound insight that Goethe made Mephis-
topheles declare: "I am the spirit that de-
nies."
It follows from such a conception that
there are as many varying degrees of hell
as there are of heaven. Our present state
in fact may be either heaven or hell accord-
ing to the direction in which the soul's as-
pirations are pointed. He who says, "Fath-
er, thy will be done" is in heaven, — as ex-
quisite a heaven as his soul is capable of, —
The Ministers and the Mormons. 51
ous approach of spiritual impotence, as re-
vealed periodically in actions which more
and more tend to terminate in empty, use-
less rage ; to feel one's power slipping away,
and realize that the time will inevitably
come when, coupled with an awareness that
shall know all heights and depths, there will
be an absolute helplessness to re-act upon
the universe ; in short, to feel one's self be-
coming a keenly self-conscious piece of
drift-wood on the waves of eternity — this it
is what probably constitutes the supreme
agony of the damned.
But in a relative sense, the pains of hell
evidently result from being out of joint with
one's environment ; and getting out of joint
would, as before suggested, result from ar-
bitrarily moving either forward or back-
ward from any given point of soul-develop-
ment. If, for instance, some devout Chris-
tian, with mechanical ideas of salvation,
should have his prayer granted and sudden-
ly be transplanted into the presence of God
and angels, — supposing that his earthly
dress could actually withstand a glory in-
tenser than the atmosphere of the sun, —
what would he find in this advanced psychic
universe with which to form soul-corre-
spondences ? What would he find as food for
50
The Mormon Point of View.
with angels and all the positive forces of the
universe surrounding him. He who has not
yet learned to take this mental attitude, is
groping in neutral shades ; he who denies it,
is in hell ; for he opposes himself to law, and
makes all things eternal his enemies. And
as by obedience to law, he built up all the
power of his psychic life, so now his opposi-
tion to law must result in stripping him of
that power. This latter state is what is
meant by being damned, — a state in which
the soul has lost the power to repent and
come into harmony with God.*
The tortures of hell can be only approxi-
mately imagined from the relatively short
psychic basis of our natural life. Never-
theless, to feel a growing sense of confusion
and discord about one ; to realize the insidi-
•Christ speaks of a sin that Is unpardon-
able — the sin against the Holy Ghost. Paul in
speaking of those who "were once enlightened
and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made
partakers of the Holy Ghost, and tasted the
good word of God and the powers of the world
to come, and then fell away," declares that it is
impossible to renew them again unto repent-
ance. Here then is the unpardonable sin; for,
manifestly, If a man cannot repent he cannot
be forgiven. Men in respect of obedience to
God are like beacon- tires: as long as a spark
of the divine life remains, it can be kindled
unto repentance; but suppose it goes out— can
you rekindle ashes? The sons of perdition are
merely the ash-heaps of divine fires that have
gone out.
52
The Mormon Point of View.
interest, delight, or even for comprehen-
sion in an environment exquisitely poised to
beings psychically millions of ages perhaps
ahead of him? Practically he would be in
hell — the hell of utter barrenness and mo-
notony.
So, on the other hand, were he suddenly
put back into environments whose elemen-
tary crudeness once formed delightful soul
attrition, but whose power to shape and
modify, and therefore to interest him, he
has long out-grown, — what would be the
state of his feelings? Fancy a Mozart or
Wagner condemned to linger in a plane
where "Yankee Doodle" and the "Arkan-
saw Traveler" were among the highest
types of musical concord! Again he would
be in hell — this time in the hell of psychic
nausea and boredom ; than which let no man
this side of the gulf of the damned fear a
worse fate.
Mormonism, it will be thus seen, has
nothing in it to encourage the delusion of
those Christians who believe themselves
already saved, and who, in consequence,
dally with the present life in listless fashion
while waiting for the advent of their para-
dise; Mormonism is pre-eminently the re-
ligion of present endeavor. —
The Ministers and the Mormons. 53
••Trust no future, howe'er pleasant
Let the dead past bury its dead;
Act— act in the living present,
Heart within and God o'erhead."
He obevs God best who learns most of
the present world, but in such order and re-
lation that the link between him and his
maker becomes daily brighter and strong-
er ; he is in the highest heaven who sees most
beauty, feels most harmony, in the creations
immediately around him.
Compare, then, with a religion so out-
lined— a religion vitally inter-related with
all real things ; indeed, an interpreter of all
fhings in their relation to the soul,— the
puerile definition with which the previous
chapter opened: "Religion— the childish
mistaking of pictures for facts,— the crass
materialization of allegory,— the infinite tal-
ent of man for humbugging himself, — and
underneath it all, the shadowy outline of
Truth."
Verily, some owls hoot — others write.
VIII.
ABORTIVE RELIGION MAKING.
To Latter-day Saints, who have been ac-
customed to looking at the human race as
exhibiting, while on earth, the essential
The Ministers and the Mormons. 55
*
votion. Now, as there is evidently a natural
evolution of the tree— into forms represent-
ing God's ideals, and crowned with lucious
fruit; so there must evidently be a natural
evolution of this religious feeling. And as
a judicious orchardist can, by proper dig-
ging and pruning, materially assist the un-
folding and fructivity of the tree, so there
is manifestly a place for the pastor in the
natural and spiritual evolution of mankind.
But note now the alternative: if the or-
chardist be actuated by artificial ideas, he
may prune the growing tendency of his
trees into all sorts of abortive forms — re-
sembling nothing else in the natural world ;
— with this penalty, however, that he will
get no fruit. So also may the religious en-
thusiast, guided by fantastic interpretations
of scripture, or the still more erratic con-
clusions of occult speculation, prune and
shape the emotional tendencies of his con-
gregation. May — did I say? — he has, he
does ; for how else can you account for the
ten thousand varieties of psychic contortion
that pass and have passed for religion
among mankind ?
That such abortive religions will never
yield fruits of eternal life — and by such
fruits I mean increased present power in
54 The Mormon Point of View.
present, or time-link in an endless chain of
divine being, the conclusions reached in the
preceding chapters will be regarded quite
as matter of fact; but to the modern Chris-
tian world, long imbued with the notion that
mankind is a subsidiary creation.— an order
of being quite different from and inferior
to that of God himself,— I can well imagine
they will seem little short of blasphemous;
and therefore also that, though they cannot
be refuted, they will not readily be accepted.
It seems pertinent therefore to close the
scries with a chapter based on this point of
view : Granted that these conclusions are
false, what follows? What other teleologic-
al vistas, forward and backward, are left
to the race?
As a preliminary, it may be remarked that
whatever be the nature of those other vistas,
—however unscientific they may be shown
to be by comparison— my showing them to
be so will not materially affect the multipli-
cation of religions ; for in respect of the
tenet-creating tendency human beings may
not unfitly be likened to a thrifty young or-
chard. The religious feeling is in them
even as the sap is in the trees,— a sort of
dumb, emotional potentiality ever seeking
opportunity to express itself in forms of de-
50
The Mormon Point of View.
the individual: physically, intellectually, so-
cially, morally, and spiritually— is best
proved by the fact that they generally post-
pone such fruits to a hypothetical future ;
whereas, it is next thing to a truism that
the religion which does not yield its rewards
in the heaven of the Here and Now, will
never — because it can never — yield them in
eternity.
What then is the remedy for abortive re-
ligion-making? Precisely the same as that
which we have already applied to abortive
tree-culture. That remedy is to let nature
alone, — which involves finding out what is
nature, and then removing all artificial ob-
structions, so that she may be alone. Are
men less subject to natural law than trees?
Do we prune and shape a growing tree by
the speculations of seers and mahatmas — or
the vagaries of Christian Science ? Then, in
God's name, let us cease ignoring the laws
of nature which constitute man's physical
and spiritual environment: cease calling
phenomena illusions — cease to go whoring
after phantasmal "realities."
For if anything is fixed and certain it is
this : that he who rises above his present en-
vironment — his present sum-total of im-
pinging phenomena, if you please — is pre-
The Ministers and the Mormons. 57
58 The Mormon Point of View.
pared for a higher, nobler sphere, — a sphere
more difficult and therefore more full of
truth-surprises ; and the evidence is this,
that his power of bliss is within him, not
stored away in a hypothetical heaven. And
he who lets present environment rise above
him, must inevitably sink to a lower, cruder,
more monotonous level; and the evidence is
this, that his weakness or damnation is with-
in him, not locked up in some hypothetical
hell.
Mormonism in taking such a stand mere-
ly voices what seems obviously the princi-
ples of common sense. They are, in fact,
the principles which must underlie the ap-
plication of scientific thinking to matters re-
ligious. If such thinking were made the
criterion of religious truth — as it is of every
other form of truth, — how, like punctured
wind-bags, would the swelling spiritual
"isms" of the day fall flat over the face of
the earth !
To have weight or effect, however, such
thinking would have to be applied by the
religion-makers themselves, scientists being
regarded as the natural enemies of religion.
But if religious leaders were fitted by scien-
tific training for such thinking, there would
be no gas-blown theories of salvation to
The Ministers and the Mormons. 59
attacks, the domain of religious belief is
postulated as being a vague, spiritual coun-
try beyond the territory of reason; whose
methods of cultivation are so diverse from
those of the intellect, that they present no
analogies even, let alone examples of com-
mon ground. It is difficult to see how the
conditions of spiritual gullibility could well
be improved beyond this.
IX.
MYSTERY AND VACUITY VERSUS MORMONISM.
When we consider the nature of the ulti-
mate facts which Christian religionists seek
to maintain, there is small wonder that they
are driven to such dilemmas as those set
forth in the last chapter. The God they
postulate is so unlike any concept of ex-
perience that, by their own confession, he
transcends all analogy. Indeed, "A God
understood is a God dethroned," has long
stood for a truism among them.
Nevertheless, they are driven, perforce,
to make this primal Mystery act, since the
world is to be created and peopled, and re-
ligion must somehow come to bless man-
kind; accordingly, they postulate subaltern
mysteries one after another; such as, that
puncture. Men would have recognized
long ago the natural connection between
this world of ours with its varied phenom-
ena and the education of the human soul for
eternal life.
It will thus be found that religions of the
unscientific kind have no teleological vistas
either of the past or of the future ; merely a
precipitous starting point, creation, with no
indication of how or why, a more or less
artificial earth-life, in which the supreme
good seems to be to get as little entangled
with things earthy as possible, and lastly a
final jump-off — into heaven or hell.
As to the significance of these final states,
we get little more of rational perspective
than is contained in the child's "good-place"
and "bad-place." True, of heaven and hell
word-painting, designed to dazzle or ter-
rorize the sinner, we have lurid examples
enough in the sermons of revivalism; but
the moment they are subjected to three con-
secutive scientific questions, they shrivel and
fade into what they are — mere reckless pro-
ducts of imagination gone mad.
And it is for this reason, no doubt, that
the religions of the day deny the right of
science to question them; and in order that
religion-makers may be quite free from its
GO
The Mormon Point of View.
the earth was made out of nothing; that
man's soul is the breath of Deity ; that the
transition between the natural and the spir-
itual world is abysmal; that man is saved
solely by the merits of Jesus, without refer-
ence to works ; that heaven is so unlike earth
that we can form no conception of it; and
so on through all the vague categories of
modern Christianity.
As is their conception of God, so of a
piece are all its corollaries; with the result
that religion has become a ghostly creature
compelled to lurk only in those dark cor-
ners where the light of science cannot pene-
trate, and its priests a body of soothsayers
afraid to speak with authority, save on mat-
ters beyond the province of verification; or
else a system of belief demanding constant
soul stultification on the part of its adher-
ents: the holding of opposite views in
science and religion, and justifying the con-
tradiction on the thin assumption that the
two planes of being are different.
Contrast with all this vacuity the positive-
ness of Mormonism, and the logical inevit-
ableness of its doctrines. Instead of the
mechanical cosmogony of sectarianism, op-
posed alike to science and reason, trace
through the scheme of salvation, as taught
The Ministers and the Mormons, til
G2 The Mormon Point of View.
by Latter-day Saints, that same golden
thread of truth which has unified the re-
searches of science, — the principle of evolu-
tion, or as we call it, the principle of eternal
progress ; not evolution drifting along the
line of least resistance, but evolution di-
rected at every step by creative intelligence.
Finally, remember that this religion, the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
was the one and only religion in all the
world denied representation in the World's
Congress of religions during the late Chica-
go Fair. Was it not a unique, an enviable
distinction to have thrust upon us?
Christ spoke of a certain rock which had
been rejected by all the builders, but which
nevertheless became the chief corner-stone.
Can you blame the Mormons for the unal-
terable conviction that in the restoration,
through Joseph Smith, of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ in its pristine purity and with
all its keys and powers, including authority
to officiate in his name, God is fulfilling
anew that very striking prediction ?
And sneaking of the builders who reject-
ed that stone brings me to a consideration
again of the occasion which led to the writ-
ing of this booklet, — the concerted move-
ments of various ministerial bodies, fol-
The Ministers and the Mormons. 63
ters in general: only against the tribe that
conceive it to be evidence of holiness to at-
tack and vilify the Mormons. May God
still give me charity to remember that they
are my brethren !
The limits of this booklet preclude the
further development of a theme which
opens with surprising interest in almost ev-
ery direction of human thought; but enough
has perhaps been said to give kindly dis-
posed people a criterion for measuring this
new interpretation of the religion of Jesus
Christ which we Mormons fervently believe
has come to bless mankind ; enough also, let
me hope, to show that Mormonism and
polygamy are separate things: or if they
have been related (by practice) in the past
and are related (by belief) at present, the
relation has been and is that of a tree and
a single leaf on the tree. Mormonism in-
volves in its reach the whole universe; po-
lygamy, even when most widely practiced,
involved only three per cent of the Latter-
day Saints, — themselves a mere handful of
people.
To the reader who is interested in the
general views here set forth and who desires
to investigate more specifically, the author
takes this occasion of announcing a new
lowing in the wake of the Presbyterian Gen-
eral Assembly North, with a view to "crush-
ing" Mormonism.
I trust I have given these zealous imi-
tators ( !) of Christ some rational idea of
the real work before them. I hope they
will realize that the mud-slinging they have
indulged in during the past — the Danite
canards, the Mountain Meadow horror (de-
plored as much by Mormons as by Gen-
tiles), and the charges of "Mormon ignor-
ance and immorality — will not suffice to aid
them with any candid reader of these pages :
they must meet the truths and arguments
here set forth, or go back to their wooden
creeds defeated.
Will they attempt it? No. Judged by
their past record, they will appeal again to
the refuge of lies ; they will cull some frag-
ments from this treatise which lend them-
selves to distortion and misrepresentation.
These, taken from the context, they will
overthrow and cover with ridicule, and then
pose as champions. To paraphrase Dr.
Johnson's famous saying, as the only utter-
ance that promises my feelings any relief:
"Holiness is often the last refuge of the
scoundrel !"
I do not speak thus bitterly against minis-
G+ The Mormon Point of View.
-i
book (now in press) entitled "Scientific
Aspect of Mormonism," also a companion
volume (now being written) entitled "So-
cial Aspect of Mormonism." In these vol-
umes religion in general and Mormonism in
particular, are considered more at length in
their relation to the scientific thought of the
day.
X.
CONCLUSION.
In conclusion, let me quote again the Rev.
Charles Thompson's brave ( 1) words before
the Presbyterian general assembly at Los
Angeles, May 26, 1903 : "It [the Mormon
Church] is not to be educated, not to be civ-
ilized, not to be reformed — it must be
crushed. No other organization is so per-
fect as the Mormon Church, except the
German Army."
The newspaper account of this meeting
sets forth that no other proceedings of the
conference received such vociferous ap-
plause as did Rev. Thompson's denunciation
of Mormonism — a statement not difficult to
believe, since the synod took definite action
as a body against the Mormon people and
religion. Be this as it may, let us analyze
The Ministers and the Mormons. 65
66
The Mormon Point of View.
the above sample of fervid, anti-Mormon
eloquence.
In the first place, when the reverend gen-
tleman admits in one breath the faultless or-
ganization of the Mormon Church, and urg-
es in another that it must be crushed, is he
not guilty of very cheap rhetoric — not to
say thinly disguised bathos? Is it not like
saying, "The Mormon Church being per-
fect in its organization, is uncrushable —
therefore it must be crushed !"
In the next place, his intemperate words
arouse the query: "If Mormonism is so
perfect in its organization, what has made it
perfect?" The German army, as every one
knows, is held together by the iron hand of
coercion; but what is the source of Mor-
mon cohesion ? It cannot be fear, for every
member enjoys the same freedom .to enter,
or leave the Church, that is enjoyed by
members of other churches. Nor is it super-
stition, as the swift glimpse of Mormonism
afforded by the foregoing pages must testi-
fy. Unlike other religions, Mormonism
calls upon no one to swallow that which
stultifies his reason. Nor is it ignorance —
Mormonism from its first inception has
waged a perpetual campaign against spirit-
ual darkness and superstition. Indeed, "No
The Ministers and the Mormons. 67
the theological seminary, with their up-
ward-rolling eyes and teary voices, their
ultra-specialized training and consequent
narrow notions of religion as something
connected with chapel services, — how could
they be expected to estimate justly a relig-
ion which involves the sum total of man's
ideas and activities ; how appreciate the re-
sultant social system, which is a more vital
departure from the artificial holiness that,
like the love-weed in our alfalfa, is blighting
the healthy naturalism of our time, — than
was the departure of science from the cos-
mogony of the Middle ages?
How, with the bias of the seminary upon
them, can they feel anything like Christian
charity for a religion which figures neither
as a divine gilding upon life, nor as a divine
influx into life, but as a transplanting of di-
vine life itself upon this planet; which aims
to sanctify and make holy every needful ac-
tivity of man, and counts law wherever
found, whether in nature or in revelation, as
equally the voice of the living God?
How, with their prim notions of minis-
terial broad-cloth and immaculate shirt-
bosoms, can they keep down a feeling of
contempt for the Elder that plows and sows,
the Seventy that shoes horses, the High.
man can be saved in ignorance," and "A
man is saved no faster than he gains intel-
ligence," — are household aphorisms with us.
We are thus driven to the only answer
left: the inevitableness of Mormon organ-
ization, results directly from the inevitable-
ness of Mormon doctrines. The cohesion
of Mormonism is nothing else than the co-
hesion of truth in precept cleaving collect-
ively unto truth in example, — precisely as
we should expect, and as any one may know
who will earnestly and prayerfully investi-
gate its claims.
Mormonism presents to the world a new
point of view for studying the meaning of
life ; a point of view so marvelous in its
reach that it encompasses and ties together
in one vast, rational unity all the truths
known to the race.
But curiously enough, the ministers that
come among us are the last people on earth
who are willing or able to appreciate this
point of view. Such has been the nature of
their education for the ministry that Mor-
monism offends them at every point. "Eg-
gregious materialism!" they exclaim. It is
the only relief they can find for their offend-
ed sense of ministerial dignity.
Poor stuffed and starched automatons of
G8
The Mormon Point of View.
Priest that plasters your house, the Apostle
that superintends a factory or presides over
a bank, — for a body of ministers, in short
—comprising almost the total male mem-
bership of the church — that do during week
days whatever the exigencies of life call
upon them to do, and preach if need be on
Sundays ?
Even in the narrow field affected by these
ministers — that of spiritual matters — Mor-
monism presents a depth and richness of
soil that would bring a harvest to their
starving congregations, could they but get
away from their hackneyed texts and com-
mentaries long enough to dig into it. As it
is, what have they to offer in lieu of the sys-
tem they would crush? With what princi-
ples do they purpose to "reform, educate,
and civilize" us?
It is conceivable that not all of these min-
isters have joined the Presbyterians in the
crushing crusade ; that some are in fact still
intent upon our conversion by peaceable
means. In order that these may be fore-
armed, and so know how to approach us, I
purpose confiding to them some prejudices
of the thoughtful, intelligent Mormon, who
is acquainted with the deeper principles of
his own faith, and also with what may be
The Ministers and the Mormons. b'9
70 The Mormon Point of View.
gained of theirs from a study of their con-
fesssions of faith.*
Well, then, to improvise an allegory, his
own religion presents to him the aspect of a
vigorous young tree; diversified in form
and function, yet still bearing the stamp of
a perfect unity; branch, and twig, and leaf,
and flower, and fruit, each growing organ-
ically out of a greater something preceding ;
the whole filled and made alive by a mys-
terious power which is constantly sending
its roots more deeply into the spiritual
world, only to extend its beneficent sway
more widely in the natural world.
Theirs — the religions of his would-be re-
formers — do not present to him the unity of
even an artificial tree. They seem rather to
be things wooden, built from timber cut for
the most part during the dark ages, and
nailed together — literally nailed — by the
decrees of ecclesiastical councils. How some
•I am fully aware, however, that such
creeds are not a just criterion of the best work
being done by ministers of the gospel. Indeed,
where men are really helping to shape the social
destiny of the race, the chances are ten to one
that they have overthrown their creeds and are
drawing their inspiration from the scientific
thought of the age. For such men I have the
greatest reverence, and feel sure they will not
take to themselves what I have said against the
narrow, bigoted preachers that make so much
fuss about reforming Latter-day Saints.
The Ministers and the Mormons. 71
deserting to the campaign of the Presbyter-
ian general assembly north? Have we not
numerous examples of the facility with
which sectaries unite when the object of at-
tack is Mormonism?
Seriously, what is this crushing business
to signify? Is the attack to be scriptural?
It dare not be — these ministers know that
too well from past experience. Educational ?
Equally impossible; Mormonism challenges
comparison with the world. Political? Per-
haps. But how shallow is the study of
Mormonism which concludes that it can be
swerved from its ideals by mere politcal cir-
cumvention ! When the Hon. B. H. Roberts
was refused his seat in the House of Repre-
sentatives, the average minister no doubt
rubbed his hands and chuckled at the crush-
ing ( !) blow that had been dealt to Mor-
monism. What a piece of inane fatuity !
It affected the health of the "octopus" no
more than would the plucking of a leaf af-
fect a tree. Nor will the unseating of Sen-
ator Smoot do more, should these ministers
succeed in their program. The real injury
in sucli a case would be to the liberty and
integrity of our beloved country.
But perhaps these holy men are dreaming
of something more drastic ; to which, in-
of these doctrines have hung to the rest of
the illogical ensemble, during the enlighten-
ment of the nineteenth century, is matter
for wonder; as for instance, the doctrine of
the creation of the world from nothing, of
the predestination of man to heaven or hell,
and of the damnation of unbaptized infants. *
I have said that such are the relative as-
pects of his own, as compared with other re-
ligions, to the thoughtful, philosophical
Mormon ; but the effect is precisely the same
with the Mormon who never reasons back
to final causes ; for in his dumb way he still
feels, by a kind of blanket intuition, the liv-
ing unity and essential rationality of the
one, and the artificiality and ineffectiveness
of the other.
Having pleaded guilty for myself and
my co-religionists to which definitely biased
state of mind, I dare say I have done the
worst thing possible, for our future peace
and well-being ; for what shall now restrain
the rest of the body ministerial from giving
up their angelic intentions toward us, and
tit is gratifying to know that the same
Presbyterian General Assembly which resolved
to open the crusade on the Mormons also pulled
out from their creed the rusty nail represented
by the last named doctrine. The other two,
however, remain.
72 The Mormon Point of View.
deed, political hindrances might be made a
prelude. Perhaps disfranchisement, confis-
cation, expulsion, mob-violence, bayonets,
wholesale massacres, — are among the re-
sponses they get to their pious prayers in
our behalf!
Well, if crushing is in the womb of time
for us, let it come. We are ready to a man
to die, if need be, for our convictions. But
let our persecutors not imagine that Mor-
monism would suffer. Individually we
should merely transfer our efforts for man-
kind to the Church of the First Born in the
spirit world — for this life is not the only
sphere where the work of salvation is being
carried on — and the very ranks of our ene-
mies might be trusted for recruits to take
our places here.
However, before they start this new cru-
sade for the glory of God( !), let me com-
mend to them the advice of one Gamaliel, a
wise man in his day: "Refrain from these
men and let them alone: for if this counsel,
or this work, be of men, it will come to
naught ; but if it be of God, ye cannot over-
throw it, — lest haply ye be found even to
fight against God."
74 The Mormon Point of View.
THE DICTIONARY OF SLANDER.
It would be impossible, in the brief space
at my command, to set down even a naked
catalogue of the slanders that have been in-
vented against the Mormons ; only those
will be noticed, therefore, which are pivotal
and far-reaching. Why these moral fungi
— these plants of the night — should be so
prolific in an age of enlightenment and tol-
erance, is explicable only on the theory of
atavism — the recurrence of moral diseases
to which our ancestors were subject when
darkness and hatred ruled the world. Why
the poison of them should be directed
against Mormonism, is best explained per-
haps on the theory that men have ceased to
believe actively in the existence of the devil,
and so have been compelled to hit upon
some substitute, out of sheer need to give
air to a smothering sense of damnation
within them.
Nor is this unburdening of evil confined
to the ignorant and vulgar. It breaks out
'neath the garb of culture, refinement, and
benevolence. Given a situation in which a
man's veracity will not be questioned, no
matter what he says, and what mere, mortal
will resist the temptation to ease himself of
a generic virus of hate subconsciously act-
ive in him? Even angels in human guise
often find relief from the pressure of their
holiness, by stopping occasionally between
their devotions to sprout a falsehood or two
against the Mormons. Indeed, —
"Some books are lies frae end to end,
And some great lies hae ne'er been penned
E'en ministers, they hae been kenned,
Wi' holy rapture —
At times a rousin' whid to vend.
And nail't wi' scripture."
Nor is it difficult to understand why
these same books have such a tremendous
vogue; especially in the light of the scrip-
tural explanation that "he who maketh also
loveth a lie." The man or woman whose
ancestral devilishness remains unsatisfied
from lack of brilliancy in themselves to in-
vent a slander, will generally be looking for
a compilation of the inventions of others;
for be the craving active or passive, it gives
a sense of deep satisfaction to nine men out
of ten to feel that there are beings living
whom it is fashionable heartily to vilify.
The Mormons are carrying now only a
fraction of what the devil was gratuitously
loaded with three quarters of a century ago.
The Dictionary of Slander. 75
THE MATRIX OF HATE.
Before me lies a volume admirably de-
scribed in the lines above-quoted ; and yet it
is quite unlike the widely circulated crop of
its predecessors. These sensational "Expos-
ures" always made an appeal, more or less,
to maudlin sentimentality ; picturing the
Mormons in colors quite lurid enough to
satisfy the atavistic desires for the old time
Presbyterian sermon concerning hell and its
inhabitants. This, on the contrary, assumes
the judicial tone. "No chapter in American
history," says the preface," has remained so
long unwritten as that which tells the story
of the Mormons. * * * The object of
the present work is to present a consecutive
history from the day of their origin to the
present writing, and as a secular, not as a
religious, narrative. The search has been
for facts, not for moral deductions, except
as these present themselves in the course of
the story."
Such is the way in which the author*
seeks to inspire confidence in the reader.
Never was fair promise more completely be-
lied by foul performance. He has not pro-
ceeded ten pages until you are aware of the
•William Alexander Linn, "The Story of the
Mormons."
76 The Mormon Point of View.
settled conviction guiding his pen ; viz., that
Mormonism is the most collossal fraud of
modern times, and that consequently the
facts he is looking for are those only which
will sustain this hypothesis. You know on
the start that let the truth be what it may,
he is going to steer this hypothesis through ;
if in the direction of facts, well and good ; if
not, then in the teeth of facts, — yet still by
a cunning manipulation of facts.
"The cynic," says Beecher, "is one who
never sees a good quality in a man, and
never fails to see a bad one. He is the hu-
man owl ; vigilant in darkness, but blind to
light; mousing for vermin, but never see-
ing noble game." If Mr. Linn ever saw a
good quality in a Mormon or in Mormon-
ism, he does not betray the fact by a single
line, nor by a single epithet. Not once does
he relent toward the charitable view of a
transaction. From preface to index the
sustaining motive is hate — a hard, dull, bit-
terness of hate, which, for six hundred octa-
vo pages, does not once thaw out — not even
on the southern slope of facts. And this,
too, while apparently the sun of fairness is
shining ! Surely we have here the very geni-
us of cynicism.
What his method is, — the cunning of it
The Dictionary of Slander. 77 78 The Mormon Point of View.
all,— we shall have occasion to know as this
dictionary of slander proceeds. Here it is
pertinent to remark that never was tangle-
foot paper gummed to catch flies with half
the artful ingenuity that this matrix of hate
is made to attract and embalm the winged
falsehoods against Mormonism. They are
all here,— old lies, decrepit lies, lurid lies,
smutty lies, transparent lies, all are here, —
newly dressed and respectable-looking; not
in haphazard order either, but marshalled
according to their devilish rank. Surely
there must be rejoicing in the nether re-
gions that creations such as these are enjoy-
ing just now an ephemeral reign of respect-
ability.
THE SMITH FAMILY.
Of course Mr. Linn, like all other traduc-
ers of Mormonism, has conceived it neces-
sary to prepare a background for the pic-
ture of Mormonism that he is getting ready
to paint. All vestiges of honorable charac-
ter must be taken from its founders. In fol-
lowing him I shall, however, omit the insid-
ious preparation of suggestion and inuendo
whereby he gets his readers ready to swal-
low the slanders against the Smith family ;
I shall give at once the passages he relies
upon to blacken their character.
"At this period in the life and career of
Joseph Smith. Jr., or Joe Smith, as he was uni-
versally named, and the Smith family, they were
popularly regarded as an illiterate, whiskey-
drinking, shiftless, irreligious race of people —
the first named, the chief subject of this biog-
raphy, being unanimously voted the laziest
and most worthless of the generation. From
the age of twelve to twenty years he is distinct-
ly remembered as a dull-eyed, flaxen -haired,
prevaricating boy — noted only for his indolent
and vagabondish character, and his habits of
exaggeration and untruthfulness."
This is the opinion of one Pomeroy Tuck-
er, a rabid anti-Mormon, who wrote an "ex-
posure" entitled "Origin, Rise, and Prog-
ress of Mormonism." Incidentally it is an
illustration of how Mr. Linn's "Search was
for facts ( !) not for moral deductions."
Then he quotes the following affidavit
signed by eleven of the most prominent ( !)
citizens of Manchester, New York:
"We, the undersigned, being personally ac-
quainted with the family of Joseph Smith, Sr.,
with whom the Gold Bible, so called, originated,
state: That they were not only a lazy, indo-
lent set of men, but also intemperate, and their
word was not to be depended upon; and that we
are truly glad to dispense with their society."
This was collected by D. P. Hurlbut, alias
Howe, who wrote another "exposure" called
"Mormonism Unveiled." Mr. Linn pro-
The Dictionary of Slander.
79
80
The Mormon Point of View.
ceeds to quote two other affidavits from the
same veracious ( !) source; one of which
betrays the cloven hoof by closing so:
"Joseph Smith Sr., and Joseph Smith Jr.,
were in particular, considered entirely desti-
tute of moral character, and addicted to
vicious habits." Of course; the origin of
Mormonism had most to do with these two.
It was sufficient to spatter the rest of the
family with mud, — these two must be cov-
ered from head to foot! How cheap and
vulgar do Mr. Linn's "facts" become, when
not preceded by Mr. Linn's rhetoric!
These slanders are so palpably malicious
that they refute themselves. As to the
charge of indolence and laziness, Mr. Linn
himself unwittingly furnishes the refuta-
tion. On page n, he says — quite as if the
facts were damaging: "There [at Palmyra]
the father displayed a sign 'Cake and Beer
Shop,' selling gingerbread, pies, boiled
eggs, root beer, and other like notions, and
he and his sons did odd jobs, gardening,
harvesting, and well digging, when they
could get them. They were very poor and
Mrs. Smith added to their income by paint-
ing oil-cloth table covers. * * * Thfy
sold cord-wood, vegetables, brooms of their
own manufacture, and maple sugar." Be-
sides which he mentions that they were
farming a piece of land two miles south of
the village on which they had built them-
selves "a little log house with two rooms on
the ground floor and two in the attic which
sheltered them all."
Let the reader carefully examine this
catalogue of things. Does it not look as
if every one did something towards the
maintenance of the family, and were busy,
moreover, both in season and out? It is
strong evidence of thrift rather than of in-
dolence. They were poor of course; but
since when has it been a crime to be poor?
As to intemprance and dishonesty, these
vices do not go along with thrift and indus-
try. Such charges are purely the mouth-
ings of hate. Joseph Smith had dared to
say that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was re-
stored through him in all its purity. That
fact itself condemned their religions as
man-made. We need go no further to ac-
count for the hatred and bigotry, which
sought a cowardly revenge in slander. "The
cry of 'False prophet! False prophet!' was
sounded from village to village," said Mr.
Reid, referring to the first mobbing of Jo-
seph Smith, a few days after the organiza-
tion of the Church in 1830; "and every foul
The Dictionary of Slander. 81
82 The Mormon Point of View.
epithet that malice could invent was heaped
upon him."*
The culmination of this mob spirit was a
trial in South Bainbridge which attracted
the attention of the whole of Chenango
County. Here these enemies of the youth-
ful Prophet concentrated the venom of their
hatred in a vain endeavor to fix some charge
of evil upon him. "Not one blemish or spot
was found against his character," continues
Mr. Reid. "He came from that trial, not-
withstanding the mighty efforts that were
made to convict him of crime by his vigilant
persecutors, with his character unstained by
even the appearance of guilt."
Nevertheless, the moment he was acquit-
ted he was re-arrested and taken to Coles-
ville, Broome County, where the miserable
farce was repeated with similar results.
Here is an example of the nature of those
prosecutions :
"Did not the prisoner Joseph Smith, have a
horse of you?"— "Yes," said the witness, Mr.
Josiah Stoal. — "Did not he go to you and tell
you that an angel had appeared unto him and
authorized him to get the horse from you?"
•Roberts' History of the Church, p. 95. Mr.
Reid was not a member of the Church, but a
gentleman who was present and witnessed the
things of which he spoke.
The Dictionary of Slander.
83
which it may be replied that his most inti-
mate acquaintances — those from whom it
would have been impossible to hide a fraud
— his father and mother, his nine brothers
and sisters, and many of his immediate
neighbors, did so accept him. Explain this
if you can, on any other theory than the
conviction of absolute sincerity ; and try to
make the fact square with the charges of
dishonesty, laziness, intemperance !
Then follow the life of the Prophet's fath-'
er during the next ten years ; see him a hum-
ble missionary traveling thousands of miles
afoot without purse or scrip; suffering im-
prisonment ; fleeing from mobs in the dead
of winter ; growing ever more venerable
and beloved, until thousands came to ask a
blessing at his hands ; dying finally in the
absolute conviction that the new dispensa-
tion of the Gospel revealed by his son, was
from God ; — read all this, and see if you can
believe the foul words with which Mr. Linn
would besmirch his character!
"The exposure he suffered brought on con-
sumption, of which he died September 14, 1840.
aged 69 years, two months, and two days. He
was six feet two inches high, was very straight,
and remarkably well proportioned. His ordin-
ary weight was about two hundred pounds, and
he was very strong and active. In his young
"No, he told me no such story." — "Well, how
had he the horse of you?" — "He bought him of
me as any oth>2r man would." — "Have you had
your pay?" — "That is not your business." — The
question being put again, the witness replied:
"I hold his note for the price of the horse, which
I consider as good as the pay; for I am well ac-
quainted with Joseph Smith, Jr., and know him
to be an honest man; and if he wishes, I am
ready to let him have another horse on the same
terms." — Mr. Jonathan Thompson was next
called up and examined: "Has not the prisoner,
Joseph Smith, Jr., had a yoke of oxen of you?"
— "Yes." — "Did he not obtain them of you by
telling you that he had a revelation to the effect
that he was to have them?" — "No, he did not
mention a word of the kind concerning the
oxen; he purchased them the same as any other
man would."
Is it likely that people twice baffled in at-
tempting to fix odium upon the Prophet's
character in a court of justice, would hesi-
tate to furnish such biased garbage-hunters
as Tucker and Hurlbut above-quoted with
anything — anything — they might wish, to
make their "exposures" telling?
The absolute disproof of these charges is
found in the after life of these men. "The
preposterousness," sneers Mr. Linn, "-of the
claims of such a fellow as Smith to prophet-
ic powers and divinely revealed information
were so apparent to his local acquaintances
that they gave him little attention." To
8-1 The Mormon Point of View.
days he was famed as a wrestler, and. Jacob-
like, he never wrestled with but one man whom
he could not throw. He was one of the most
benevolent of men, opening his house to all who
were destitute. While at Quincy, Illinois, he
fed hundreds of the poor Saints who were fly-
ing from the Missouri persecutions, although he
had arrived there penniless himself."
And this was the man whom Mr. Linn
consents to class among an "illiterate, whis-
key-drinking, shiftless, irreligious race of
people!" And since he especially singles
out the one son Joseph for reprobation with
the father, as a "dull-eyed, flaxen-haired,
prevaricating boy — noted only for his indo-
lent and vagabondish character — " let me
set before the reader another picture, for
the truth of which his whole life after he
became a marked man, is the voucher. It
is from the pen of George Q. Cannon :
"In the days of Joseph, to appear like a
Prophet a man should, according to the popular
idea, wear a long beard, long hair, and dress In
an outlandish style. If he did not wash him-
self and clean and pare his nails, it would be
all the better. He should not smile and be
merry. When he spoke, his voice should be
deep and solemn; when he walked, his tread
should be slow and measured. If he lived in a
cave, it would suit many people better than if
he lived in a house. He should be different from
other men In every respect.
Of course those who had these ideas of
The Dictionary of Slander.
85
86
The Mormon Point of Viezu.
what a Prophet should be, were much disap-
pointed in Joseph; for if a Prophet should talk,
dress, and act in this manner, he was very un-
like one. He wore no beard, did not have long
hair, and was very cleanly in his person: he
dressed with taste, had a pleasant face, a sweet
smile, a cheerful and joyous manner, and was
natural. He was the very opposite of what a
religious bigot would think a Prophet ought to
be; and he never took any pains to be other-
wise.
He was a great hater of sham. He disliked
long-faced hypocrisy, and numerous stories are
told of his peculiar manner of rebuking it. He
knew that what many people called sin is not
sin. and he did many things to break down
superstition. He would wrestle, play ball, and
enjov himself in physical exercises, and he
knew that he was not committing sin in so do-
ing. The religion of heaven is not to make men
sorrowful, not to curtail their enjoyment, and
to make them groan, and sigh, and wear long
faces, but to make them happy. This Joseph
desired to teach the people; but in doing so, he,
like our Savior, when he was on the earth, was
a stumbling-block to bigots and hypocrites.
They could not understand him; he shocked
their prejudices and traditions."
i
JOSEPH SMITH A MONEY DIGGER.
The purpose of reviving this old slander
is ostensibly two- fold : to support the previ-
ous characterization of the Prophet, and at
the same time prepare a back-ground to dis-
credit his explanation of the coming forth
of the Book of Mormon. Mr. Linn starts out
by asserting that "the elder Smith was a
money-digger while in Vermont"* and pro-
ceeds to build up a plausible story — from
matter in the afore-mentioned "exposures"
by Howe and Tucker— to the effect that
"Joe" Smith became widely famed as a
"gazer" into a stone and was often em-
ployed by people whom he duped by his pre-
tensions. Finally Mr. Linn believes the
reader sufficiently prepared for this whop-
per:
"For pay they offered to disclose by means
of it the location of stolen property and of bur-
ied money. There seemed to be no limit to the
exaggration of their professions. They would
point o'Jt the precise spot beneath which lay
kegs, barrels and even hogsheads of gold and
silver in the shape of coin, bars, images, can-
dlesticks, etc., and they even asserted that all
the hills thereabout were the work of human
hands, and that Joe, by using his "peek-stone,"
could see the caverns beneath them. • • •
A Palmyra man, for instance, paid seventy-five,
cents to be sent on a fool's errand to look for
some stolen cloth."
•This on the gratuitous assertion of "Judge"
Daniel Woodward sixty years afterwards, who
said that Smith hunted for Capt. Kidd's treas-
ure. As a hundred thousand people have hunt-
ed for this buried scat, the invention lacks orig-
inality; and as the Smiths lived some hundreds
of miles from the nearest point Capt. Kidd
probably ever touched, the slander is stupid and
senseless, as well. It is safe to float such stories
only against a Mormon — and the devil."
The Dictionary of Slander.
87
88
The Mormon Point of View.
The juxta-position of the two assertions
that Smith claimed to be able to see "kegs
and barrels of gold and silver" and that
other of his accepting seventy-five cents to
spy out a piece of stolen cloth, is staggering.
How Mr. Linn could so presuir.c upon the
absence of common sense in his readers, is
explicable only when we remember the mo-
mentum of hate which carried him on. Does
he really expect any sane man to believe
this story? Or even this choice bit of ro-
mance, which immediately follows: —
"Certain ceremonies were always connect-
ed with these money-digging operations. Mid-
night was the favorite hour, a full moon was
helpful, and Good Friday was the best date.
Joe would sometimes stand by, directing the
digging with a wand. The utmost silence was
necessary to success. More than once, when the
digging proved a failure, Joe explained to his
associates that, just as the deposit was about to
be reached, some one, tempted by the devil,
spoke, causing the wlshed-for riches to disap-
pear."
What then is the probable fact of the mat-
ter? That Joseph may have been caught
intermittently by the prospecting fever, in
common with hundreds of others, is possi-
ble — especially when one remembers how
that craze sometimes attacks whole towns
in the west ; but that he made a business of
it, is disproved no less by the record of oth-
er work that claimed him during the years
prior to 1827, than by the fact that not once
is he accused, even by his vilest traducers,
of treasure-hunting since then. We must
therefore believe that his detractors deliber-
ately loaded on his memory the sins — both
as respects fact and invention— of a whole
community. Here is the Prophet's own ex-
planation ; I am willing to trust the reader's
intuition as to its truth :
"In the month of October, 1825, I hired with
an old gentleman by the name of Josiah Stoal,
who lived in Chenango County, State of New
York. He had heard something of a silver mine
having been opened by the Spaniards in Har-
mony, Susquehanna County, State of Pennsyl-
vania, and had previous to my hiring with him,
been digging in order, if possible, to discover the
mine. After I went to live with him he took me,
among the rest of his hands, to dig for the sil-
ver mine, at which I continued to work for
nearly a month, without success in our under-
taking, and finally I prevailed with the old gen-
tleman to cease digging for it. Hence arose the
very prevalent story of my having been a
money-digger."
THE SPAULDING STORY REVIVED.
It will be incredible to most of my readers
that Mr. Linn has had the temerity to re-
assert that old and utterly discredited hy-
pothesis of the origin of the Book of Mor-
The Dictionary of Slander.
89
90
The Mormon Point of View.
mon. Such is nevertheless the case. How-
ever, before setting forth how he tries to
revamp the old Hurlbut shoe, I shall give,
in brief, the history of Spaulding's manu-
script.
Solomon Spaulding, a disgruntled clergy-
man of Conneaut, Ohio, witnessing the ex-
cavation of some old mounds, conceived the
idea of telling the story of Ancient America,
and called his production, "The Manuscript
Found." He tried various publishers in
vain; for his story, as we shall see present-
ly, was as raw and crude as a school-boy's
composition. Spaulding died in 1816. His
wife married a Mr. Davidson in 1820, and
Mr. Spaulding's effects were, sent to her at
Otsego, New York. "These included an old
trunk," says Mr. Linn, "containing Mr.
Spaulding's papers. 'There were sermons
and other papers,' says his daughter, 'and 1
saw a manuscript about an inch thick, close-
ly written. * * * On the outside * *
were the words. "Manuscript Found." I
did not read it, but looked through it, and
had it in my hands many times, and saw the
names I heard at Conneaut, when my father
read it to his friends.' "
This manuscript reached the printing es-
tablishment of E. D. Howe (pseudo-author
The Dictionary of Slander.
91
called on Hurlbut at his home near Gibson-
burg, Ohio. "Her visit," says Linn, "great-
ly excited him." He remembered getting
the manuscript, and of delivering it to Mr.
Howe, but thought it had been burned with
other of Mr. Howe's papers. Mr. Linn con-
tinues (p. 56) :
"When Mrs. Dickenson pressed him with
the question, 'Do you know where the "Manu-
script Found" is at the present time?' Mrs.
Hurlbut went up to him and said. Tell what
you know.' She got no satisfactory answer,
but he afterwards forwarded to her an affidavit
saying that he had obtained of Mrs. Davidson a
manuscript supposing it to be Spaulding's
'Manuscript Found,' adding: 'I did not examine
the manuscript until after I got home, when
upon examination I found it to contain nothing
of the kind, but being a manuscript upon an
entirely different subject. This manuscript I
left with E. D. Howe.' "
I am going to quote from this manuscript
presently — just to show the reader what
kind of stuff Spaulding's story is made of,
and how disappointed the Apostate Hurlbut
must have been. "Why if it had been the
real one" so he is quoted by Mr. Linn as
saying, "I could have sold it for $3,000; but
I just gave it to Howe because it was no
account."
Hurlbut (alias Howe) made it of some
account, however. It is characteristic of the
utter shamelessness of the man that he based
his charge of plagiarism upon it, even while
of "Mormonism Unveiled" previously quot-
ed), at Painesville, Ohio, through the me-
dium of D. P. Hurlbut (the real author of
"Mormonism Unveiled), an apostate Mor-
mon, in the following manner: Hating the
religion from which he had apostatized — as
all apostates do — and hearing that Spaul-
ding had written a story, respecting ancient
America, he set afloat the fabrication that
the Book of Mormon was a plagiarism of
this story. To prove this he applied to Mrs.
Davidson for permission to read her former
husband's manuscript, evidently with a view
to getting an incontrovertible argument de-
nouncing Mormonism. As the request was
seconded by a letter from her brother, she
consented on condition that it be returned
to her by a certain date. This was in 1834 —
four years after the Book of Mormon ap-
peared. But the manuscript was never re-
turned. What had become of it ?
Howe's — that is to say Hurlbut's — book
in the meanwhile had been published (in
1836) charging definitely that the Book of
Mormon was founded on the lost manu-
script, and all the world was glad to believe
the absurd invention.
In 1880 — forty-six years later — Mrs. El-
len E. Dickenson a great niece of Spaulding.
92
The Mormon Point of View.
knowing that no two names or phrases in
the respective books were alike. Nor did
he lie thus brazenly alone. He secured the
affidavits of eight of Spaulding's acquaint-
ances in Ohio.all declaring that the historical
parts of the two books were identical, as
they recollected Spaulding's story. Henry
N. Miller is quoted as saying:
"I have recently examined the "Book of Mor-
mon,' and find in it the writings of Solomon
Spaulding, from beginning to end, but mixed up
with Scripture and other religious matter which
I did not meet with in the 'Manuscript Found.'
The names of Nephi, Lehi, Moroni, and In fact
all the principal names, are brought fresh to my
recollection by the 'Gold Bible.' "
The Rev. Abner Judson, who claims to
have heard the Spaulding story read to his
father, says :
"He wrote It in the Bible style. 'And it came
to pass,' occurred so often that some called him
'Old Come-to-pass.' The 'Book of Mormon' fol-
lows the romance too closely to be a stranger.
When it was brought to Conneaut and read
there in public, old Esquire Wright heard It
and exclaimed, "Old 'Come-to-pass' has come to
light again.' "
Particular attention is called to the al-
leged utterances of Miller and Wright as
here quoted by Howe and copied by Linn.
We shall see presently how much reliance
can be placed upon facts gathered by an
apostate. Unfortunately for these vera-
cious ( !) historians, the long-lost manu-
script was found, and is now in the Oberlin
The Dictionary of Slander.
93
94 The Mormon Point of View.
College library. The President, Mr. Fair-
child, being on a visit to his old friend, Mr.
L. L. Rice of the Sandwich Islands, and re-
membering that the latter had purchased
E. D. Howe's printing establishment, sug-
gested that there might be, among the old
papers, some valuable anti-slavery docu-
ments. Their search resulted in finding
Spaulding's much-famed storv. It was tied
up in a package marked in pencil: "Manu-
script Story, Conneaut Creek," and on the
fly-leaf, "The Manuscript Found," below
which were the words "Manuscript Story."
The introduction informs the reader that
the story was translated from "twenty-eight
sheets of parchment * * * written in
an eligant hand with Roman Letters and
and in the Latin Language," taken from a
stone box in a cave "near the west bank of
Conneaught River," Ohio. The writer is
feigned to be one Fabius who sets sail from
Rome to carry a commission from Constan-
tine to the Roman army in "Brittain." Driv-
en by a storm into mid-Atlantic, the crew is
almost frantic with fear, when "a mariner
stept forward and proclaimed, Attend O
friends and listen to my words — A voice
from on high hath penetrated my soul and
the inspiration of the Almighty hath bid me
proclaim — Let your sails be wide spread
and the gentle winds will soon waft you into
a gentle harbor."
On the fifth day they sailed "many
leages" up a "spacious river" and cast an-
chor near a town. Here they were met by
a king and four chiefs, were feasted, then
surrounded by a ring of one thousand men
and women, and treated to a melange of
"shouting and screaming, whooping — then
dancing, jumping and tumbling with many
indiscribible distortions in their counte-
nances and indelicate jestures," and finally
given a tract of land to build upon.
"But now a most singular and delicate sub-
ject presented itself for consideration. Seven
young ladies we had on board, as passengers,
to visit certain friends they had in Britain —
Three of them were ladies of rank, and the rest
were healthy bucksom Lasses. — Whilst deliber-
ating on this subject a mariner arose whom we
called droll Tom — Hark ye shipmates says he,
Whilst tossed on the foaming billows what
brave son of neptune had any more regard for
a woman than a sturgeon, but now we are all
safely anchored on Terra flrma — our sails furled
and ship keeled up, I have a huge longing for
some of those rosy dames — But willing to take
my chance with my shipmates — I propose that
they should make their choice of husbands."
"Droll Tom"was rewarded "by one of the
most sprightly rosy dames in the company
* * * The three young ladies [of rank]
fixed their choise on the Captain the mate
and myself. * * * The six poor fellows
The Dictionary of Slander.
05
9G
The Mormon Point of View.
who were doomed to live in a state of
Cebicy or accept of savage dames, discov-
ered a little chagrine and anxiety." The
event, however is duly celebrated and —
"After having partook of an eligant Dinner
& drank a botle of excellent wine our spirits
were exhiderated & the deep gloom which be-
clouded our minds evaporated. The Capt. as-
suming his wonted cheerfulness made the follow-
ing address My sweet good soald fellows we
have now commenced a new voige — Not such as
brot us over mountain billows to this butt end
of the world. • * • * Surrounded by in-
numerable hords of human beings, who resem-
ble in manners the Ourang Outang — let us keep
aloof from them & not embark in the same mat-
rimonial ship."
"Honest Crito" — one of the six — does not
get such lofty ideas out of the wine. "Me-
thinks," said he, — and he evidently speaks
for his ill-starred mates — "I could pick out
a healthy plum Lass from the copper coul-
ered tribe that by washing and scrubing
her fore and aft and upon the labbord and
stabbord sides she would become a whole-
some bedfellow." The seven happy couples
are too magnanimous to oppose so natural
a wish, and tell Crito to try the experiment.
Night closes down finally. "We retired"
says Fabius, "two and two in hand — ladies
heads a little awri-blushing like the moon
and — But I forgot to mention that our so-
ciety passed a resolution to build a church
in the midst of our village."
Chapter three is devoted to an account of
the "Delawans" with whom the new-comers
lived ; chapter four to a philosophical disser-
tation on the form of the earth; also to an
account of their moving westward to the
kingdom of the "Ohon«," the women and
children being transported on the backs of
six "Mammoons;" chapters five, six, seven,
and eight, to prosy details respecting the
"Ohons," "Kentucks," "Sciotans," and oth-
er nations ; chapters nine and ten to an ac-
count of learning, government, money, re-
ligion and kindred topics, which, were they
real facts, might excite interest on account
of their very crudity, but which, as fiction,
are insufferably boring. A ray of relief
comes, when the book is half done, in the
fact that Elseon, eldest son of "Hamboon,
Emperor of Kentuck," makes love to La-
mesa, eldest daughter of "Rambock, Em-
perpr of Sciota." The constitution of
Sciota prohibits such a marriage. But trust
love to find a way. Listen to this :
"They were together in one of apartments
of the Emperors palace — the company had all
retired. — I have said he in a low voice to La-
mesa — conceived that opinion of you that I
hope you will not be displeased if I express my
feelings with frankness & sincerity. — You must,
she replied be the best judge of what is proper
for you to express — I am always pleased with
sincerity. As the sun, says he my dear Lame**,
The Dictionary of Slander.
Wi
OS
The Mormon Point of View.
when he rises with his radient beams dispels
the darkness of knight, so it is in your power
to dispel the clouds of anxiety which rest upon
my soul — The crown of Kentuck will be like a
Rock upon my head, unless you will condescend
to share with me the glory & felicity of my
reign. Will you consent to be my dearest friend
& companion for life? There is nothing she
replies would give me more pleasure than a
compliance with your request, provided it shall
meet the approbation of my Father — But how
can he consent, when our Constitution requires
that his daughters should marry in his domin-
ions? Besides my father intends that I shall re-
ceive the King of Sciota for my husband. By
performing says he, the cerimonies of Mariage
at Tolanga we shall literally comply with the
imperial constitution, as Talanga is within the
dominions of your Father — But as for this King
of Sciota do you sincerely wish to have him
for a husband? No, she quickly speaks, anger
sparkled in her eyes — No! The King of Sciota
for my husband! his pride, his haughtiness —
the pomposity of all his movements, excite my
perfect disgust. I should as leave be yoked to
a porcupine."
It ought here to be remarked that the only
condition on which President Fairchild
would consent to the publication of this fa-
mous story was that no change whatever be
made in the manuscript; to which end he
furnished the Latter-day Saints with a ver-
batim et literatim copy, passages of which
I herewith reprint to show its utter unlike-
ness to the Book of Mormon. The excerpt
above quoted exhibits Mr. Spaulding per-
haps at his best as an author; unless the
fragment which follows is more character-
istic. Lamesa has received a letter signed
"Rambock, Em. of Sciota," commanding
her to marry Sambal in ten days. The im-
mediate results are dramatic:
"Had the lightning flashed from the clouds
& pierced her heart, it co'ild not have produced
a more instantaneous effect — She fell into the
arms of Elseon — the maid ran for a cordial — El-
seon rubed her temples & hands & loosned the
girdle about her waist. Within about an hour
the blood began to circulate. Elseon to his in-
expressible joy felt her pulse beginning to beat
& perceived flashes of colour in her face — With
a plaintive groan she opened her eyes once
more to the beams of day — & in a kind of wild
destraction exclaimed — Ah cruel cr-jel Father —
why have you doomed your daughter to a situa-
tion the most odious & disgustful — As well
might you have thrown her into a den of por-
cupines, opossums & serpents — With such ani-
mals I could enjoy life with less disgust & tor-
ment, than with this mighty King of Sciota."
Of course Elseon escapes to his own
country, taking Lamesa with him. A war
follows — the first in five hundred years.
Before events begin to stir, however, the
reader must yawn through endless letters
hetween the emperors containing threats
and counter threats, and through tiresome
spread-eagle speeches concerning honor and
patriotism. Here is the turning point in the
war :
"Sambal was now more indignant than ever
— & raising his sword he threw his whole
strength into one mighty effort, with an inten-
tion to divide his body in twain. But Elseon,
q lick as the Lightning sprang back & Sambals
sword struck the ground with a prodigious force
which broke in the middle — He himself had
nearly tumbled his whole length — but recovering
The Dictionary of Slander.
99
100
The Mormon Point of View.
& beholding his defenceless situation, he ran
a small distance, & seizing a stone sufficiently
big for a common man to lift he threw it at
Elseon — It flew with great velocity & had not
Elseon bowed his head his brains must have
quited their habitation — his Cap however was
not so fortunate; having met the stone as he
bowed it was carried some distance from him
& lodged on the ground. Elseon regardless of
his cap, ran swiftly upon Sambal, whose foet
having sliped when he threw the stone had
fallen upon his back & had not recovered — Ter-
ror now seized his mind — Spare, O spare my life
says he & I will restore peace to Kentuck &
you may enjoy Lamesa. — No peace sais Elseon
do I desire with a man. whosf sword is red
with the blood of my friends. He spoke &
plunged his sword Into Sambals heart."
Whatever may be said of Mr. Spaulding's
spelling, diction, and sentential structure,
his invention is even worse. His plot — if
plot it may be called — lacks prospective-
ness. Not once does he excite suspense as
to the outcome of any situation. Indeed, his
characters are so wooden that the reader
can feel no interest in them whatever. Here,
for instance, is the last meeting of the hero
and heroine — poor saw dust figures that
they arel
"The time of Elseon was precious — He spent
but a few moments with Lamesa, in which they
exchanged mutual congratulations — & expres-
sions of the most tender & sincere affection. —
She conjured him to spare the life of her father
& brother & not to expose his own life any
farther than his honour & the interst of his
country required. I shall cheerfully says he
comply with every request, which will promote
your happiness. He embraced her & bid her
adue."—
Two more paragraphs close the story ; af-
ter which is the following notation : "The
end of Solomon's Manuscript, copied by L.
L. Rice, 1884 and 1885." Next comes an
endorsement which must forever damn the
author of "Mormonism Unveiled." It reads
as follows : —
"The writings of Sollomon Spalding
proved by Oron Wright Oliver Smith John
Miller and others The testimonies of the
above Gentlemen arc now in my possession
D. P. Hurlbut."
The reader will call to mind that Hurlbut
(alias Howe) prints affidavits, so Linn de-
clares, representing two of these men, John
Miller and Aaron Wright, as saying that
they immediately recognized Spaulding's
story in the Book of Mormon by the similar-
ity of names, and the recurrence of the
phrase "It came to pass." Wright is repre-
sented as exclaiming: "Old 'come to pass,'
has come to life again!" Yet here is Hurl-
but's certificate of the fact that these men
were acquainted with the real manuscript,
in which none of those expressions occur at
all ; which in fact is no more like the Book
of Mormon than the coarse yarns of a
horse-jockey resemble the Sermon on the
Mount. Still these are the facts ( !) on
which Mr. Linn expects to make out his
case.
(To be continued.)
1U2 The Mormon Point of View.
i Quarterly ifanazine. owned aixl edite<l by A. L. .Vel*on,
Profexsor or E.^i-li. Brhham Vomig Untrer*il». Price
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Vol. I.
Provo City, Utah, April 1, If 04.
No. &
RECEPTION OF THE NEW MAGAZINE.
With almost every remittance come the
encouraging words: Long life to the new
magazine! "I commend your courage,"
writes Prof. B. S. Hinckley. "Accept my
sincere wishes for the complete success of
your great enterprise." From the headquar-
ters of the Southern States mission: "We
have taken great delight in perusing the ini-
tial number, just received, and recognize in
your effort, that which will, we are confi-
dent, fill a long felt want."
Naturally many of the encouraging letters
come from missionaries. "I believe it will
be of great benefit in helping me to place
the Gospel before the higher class of peo-
ple," writes an Elder in California. Another
encloses to me a dollar just received from
a chum at home, with the remark that he
could think of no other way of spending it
i
Reception of the New Magazine. 103
our own development where we must study
the philosophy underlying the principles of
the Gospel, and learn zvhat these principles
are, — ho?u they appeal to our lives and how
they affect the lives of others, — rather than
continue proving that Peter, James, John,
and Paul taught them. Christ commanded
His Apostles to 'teach' all nations the things
that Fie had taught them. The same injunc-
tion is laid on us. We sometimes think we
have discharged that duty when we prove
that die former Apostles taught faith, re-
pentance, baptism, etc. ; but these terms have
very little meaning to most people. They
want to know why they should act, before
they move, and what the result will be.
"This spirit is manifest not only in the
world, but also among our own young peo-
ple. They too are asking why ; and the Gos-
pel is such a beautiful, such a perfect phil-
osophy of life, that I have wondered why-
some of our literary artists have not tried
their brush on it long ago. I have felt the
need of something of the kind so much in
our missionary classes, and in my efforts to
explain the many questions asked by the
Elders, that I have been trying to write some
essays myself, during the past year, on the
Fall, the Atonement and other principle?
of the Gospel. I am not a professor of lan-
guage and often find it impossible to illus-
trate by the arrangement of words the pu>
that it would do himself and the cause so
much good. "Your recent article in the
Era on 'Two aspects of Deity' gave me an
appetite for mure. . . . This state is full
of the Thomas type of individuals, with
scarcely any of the Nathaniel class."
"But many friends write me of the good
they think such a journal will do in Zion.
"I am myself one of the simple Nathaniels,"
writes a sister from Parowan, "but I have
many dear ones who are not of that class,
but who belong to the doubters: and I am
sure your magazine is just what I am look-
ing for." From a brother in Chester comes
this endorsement: "I wish there were 'ten
thousand pens' as able as yours advocating
these same principles in as thorough a man-
ner." And dear, blunt Brother Savage re-
minds me: "You have a big job on your
hands to reconvert die converted saints ; but
I wish you God-speed in an effort to make
us think more and work harder on advanced
lines."
"I appreciate your view point," writes
President McOuarrie of the Eastern States
■mission, "and feel sure you are working
along the proper lines. I have long been
convinced that we have reached a point in
104 The Mormon Point of View.
tures I see ; but I can see the beauty, and feel
the power in these principles and in the or-
ganization of the church.
"You have a great theme and I believe you
have the power and ability to illustrate the
truths you have studied so carefully from
the view point of reason and utility. You
will have a hard struggle financially in start-
ing your magazine ; but if you are success-
ful in getting it fairly before the people, it
will be appreciated by every thoughtful per-
son who reads it. I haven't much to ofler
you, Brother Nelson ; but if my faith ar d
confidence, and what little influence I pos-
sess, will be of service to you, I take pleasure
in offering you the latter, and assuring you
of the former. I pray that you may be
blessed in your worthy enterprise. The
courage that undertakes such a task deserves
success."
My readers will pardon me, I trust, for
putting off again the essay on the "Mormon
Point of View." As the articles in the
"Dictionary of Slander" happened all to
turn on matters relating to the Book of
Mormon. I felt I could not forego the op-
portunity of making this a Book of Mormon
number; especially as the leading article is
germane to the present widely-aroused dis-
cussions resulting from the new ideas set
forth in the M. I. Manual respecting the
coming forth of this ancient record.
106 The Mormon Point of View.
HUMAN SIDE OF THE BOOK OF
MORMON.
I.
THE HUMAN EQUATION IN ALL SCRIPTURE.
In closing his preface to the abridgment
he had made of the Nephite records, the
Prophet Mormon uses these significant
words: "Now if there are faults, they are
the mistakes of men: wherefore condemn
not the things of God that ye may be found
spotless at the judgment seat of Christ"
Joseph, the translator, might well have used
the same language. This caution is mani-
festly not to assure us that God makes no
mistakes — that fact is self-evident. The pur-
pose is plainly to imply the writer's aware-
ness that there may be errors, many of them,
in this record of an ancient people. It would
certainly be rash to hold that the book as
translated is free from them.
This raises at once the question whether
a book may be divinely inspired which is
more or less full of human errors and inac-
curacies. Let the reader pause well before
making reply; remembering that his answer
must involve the Bible equally with the
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 10
IT'
t.
tions. How, indeed, could there be a per-
fect revelation flowing through the channel
of an imperfect mind, and moulded in the
matrix of an imperfect medium? It vvjulcfc
be folly to look for it either in the Bible or
the Book of Mormon. But God can, and
does, compensate for the imperfect personal
equation of the prophet by making each in-
dividual soul that seeks him in faith feel —
even as the Prophet felt — the truth of the
message, through the medium of the Spirit
of truth. "Though the letter killeth, yet
doth the Spirt make alive."
Let us now note, in the light of this
thought, wherein the Book of Mormon is al-
most certain to contain errors and inaccu-
racies ; first in respect of the original abridg-
ment by Mormon, and second in respect of
its translation into English by Joseph Smith.
The ancient history of America as set
forth in the Book of Mormon covers a per-
iod of nearly 2,700 years, or from the build-
ing of the tower of Babel to about 400 of the
Christian era. It involves an account of two
separate and distinct peoples. The first, or
Jaredites, became extinct about 590 B. C, or
shortly after the second race, the Nephites r
began to flourish ; and the history of the first
race became known to the second by means
Book of Mormon, — a fact that need not be
insisted upon to any one acquainted with
the results of the "higher criticism" of the
Jewish scriptures. Space will not permit me
to enter into this theme; but perhaps the
following suggestions may aid in coming to
a proper conclusion.
Whenever God attempts to speak to man
through the medium of words he is at once
conditioned and handicapped: (1) by the
imperfection of man's language, which be it
remembered consists of nothing more than
a collection of symbols for the facts of
man's consciousness — that is, for both the
truths and errors that lie in his mind; and
(2) by the degree of intelligence to which
the mind has attained through which he
speaks. The prophet's soul may no doubt
be so illumined by divine power as to feel
within itself the full truth of the message;
but the moment he attempts to translate his
feelings into words he is conditioned not
only by what he knows of the meaning of
these symbols (i. e. by the extent of his
knowledge), but also by his skill or want of
skill in the use of them.
Try as you will, you cannot bridge the
gulf between God and man by any revelation
in words which is not subject to these condi-
108 The Mormon Point of View.
similar to that which now makes the history
of both known to us ; that is, plates on which
was written an account of the older civiliza-
tion were found by the Nephites among the
ruins of the extinct race, and translated by
means of Urim and Thummim.
The end of the second, or Nephite nation,
being known to God, He commanded the
Prophet Mormon, who lived in the latter
half of the fourth century, A. D., to abridge
from the tons of records in the royal arch-
ives a connected history of both peoples ; the
purpose being to show mankind in our day,
that God lives and rules among the nations
of the earth ; or in the language of Mor-
mon's preface "to the convincing of Jew and
Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the eternal
God, manifesting himself to all nations."
It is not contended that Mormon was an
infallible historian. On the contrary, he
was a man like you and me, willing to at-
tempt God's work by the highest light and
best ability within him, and as he might be
guided by the inspiration of heaven. The
requirement made of him, and his qualifies
tions for the work, may best be realized
'perhaps if/ we suppose Paul, Peter, the
Beloyed Apostle, or even some humble Luke
in the early Church, to have been command-
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 109
ed to abridge the Jewish records, so as to
make a continuous history from the point of
view of God's dealings with man.
In only one thing should we expect such
a book lo approach infallibility ; viz, in
whatever might be necessary to secure it?
central purpose: the keeping alive of faith
in God, by portraying his providences i .
the annals oi history, or by setting forth the
truths of his Gospel in holy precept. In the
rounding out of this large essential truth,
we may well believe that the spirit of inspi-
ration would enlighten or restrain the his-
torian at every step, to the end that men in
reading the history might come unto God, —
the supreme essential in the life of man here
below.
But for the rest, — the thousand insignifi-
cant details in the life of a people; details
of geography, politics, natural environments,
— what matter if this date be wrong, that
incident credited to this king when it be-
longs to another, or there be some inaccu-
racy as to the number of killed or wounded
in a certain battle? Is the Mississippi less
a river, because you fail to enumerate ac-
curately its shoals and sand bars, &r the
debris floating on its surface ?
Had Peter been the historian of such an
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. Ill
of North and South America as may now be
known by a pupil in the fifth grade. What
wonder therefore that his locations are
somewhat vague, or that he omits reference
entirely to very important places? And, if
he seems to shorten distances between
points, — as for instance the "land south-
ward" and the "land northward" from the
"narrow neck of land," — is it not precisely
what we should expect of one reviewing the
records of a thousand years of movement,
and traveling himself in imagination rather
than in reality ?
So also in a multitude of secular details :
manufacture, architecture, domestic life,
natural and physical environment, agricul-
ture, commerce, politics, jurisprudence, and
so on ; allusions to which must necessarily
be oblique, if they occur at all, since the pur-
pose was not to give the secular but the re-
ligious life of the nation.
II.
VERBAL SHORTCOMINGS IN THE BOOK 0i ?
MORMON.
Another fact becomes patent the moment
you subject the Eook of Mormon to literary
analysis: the original writer was no master
of style — at least not in the sense in which
1L0 The Mormon Point of View.
abridgment, would it be sane to discredit the
divine inspiration of the book because, for
instance, he repeated the story of Samson
slaying a thousand Philistines with the jaw
bone of an ass ? Or even gave credence to
that other story about the foxes and the
ripened grain? The sooner Christians al-
low for the personal equation of the sacred
writers, the sooner will the Bible become a
consistert record of God's dealings with
man.
And so of the Book of Mormon. The
records whence it was compiled were writ-
ten during a period of a thousand years, and
with no doubt all the fidelity to truth of
which their authors were capable : yet com-
pared with what we know today of the
natural world — of geography, topography,
geology, mineralogy, botany, zoology — what
should we expect under these heads even in
the complete Nephite records? Less there-
fore in an abridgment which could represent
scarcely a thousandth part of the records
abridged, and which aimed primarily to se-
lect only those aspects of the history which
dealt with the providences of God.
With all the learning at his command,
Mormon would probably not be able to get
even so accurate a geographical knowledge
11*2 The Mormon Point of View.
we apply that term to modern composition.
To be a master of style is, among other
things, to know what to leave out, and how
to convey thought between the lines. The
Prophet Mormon seems to have written
right on, without a single erasure or recon-
struction. The style is consequently very
diffuse, but also very simple and clear.
As to the mannerisms in. the book, some
are undoubtedly attributable to the original
writers, others to the translator. Among
the first may be mentioned the oft-recurring
phrase, "It came to pass ;" which is probably
the best English rendering of what must
have been a much-used anticipative idiom in
the Nephite language. Akin to this in its
purpose of arresting the attention, is the
interjection "behold," which occurs much
more frequently than in any text Joseph
could possibly have known. Another man-
nerism is set forth in the following sentence :
"Behold their women did toil and spin and
did make all manner of cloth, of fine-twined
linen, and cloth of every kind, to clothe their
nakedness." There is scarcely a page in
which this, the emphatic form of the past
tense, does not occur a number of times:
often when the regular past would very
much improve the style.
Human Side of the Book of Mormon, 113
114 The Mormon Point of View.
Whether this last mannerism is to be
credited to Mormon or to Joseph Smith is
uncertain. It is a tense-form peculiar to the
English among modern tongues. To claim
that it is a literal translation is to assume
that there was a similar idiom in the original
language ; which, to say the least, would in-
volve a unique co-incidence. But on the
other 'hand, to say that it is exclusively a
modernism is to declare that Joseph Smith
did not have a very fine literary taste ; which
was true enough of him at this stage of his
career.
Respecting the prolixity of the style, the
merit or the blame* — whichever point of
view you take — must probably be divided
between author and translator. In the repe-
tition of the thought, and in the multiplying
of details, — that is to say, in the matter of
redundancy, — Mormon is undoubtedly re-
sponsible ; but in the many instances of cir-
•The scholar naturally prefers a senten-
tious style, one packed with thought. But such
a style — Paul's for example — is Greek to the un-
learned. On the other hand a diffuse, — that is
to say, a widely-amplified, phraseographlc, —
style, being cast in the very forms of thought
habitual to the unlettered, is very easily com-
prehended, though it takes more time to read.
Considering the kind of people to whom God
Intended the Book of Mormon should appeal, its
style could not have been more admirably adapt-
ed to Its mission.
cumloculion — the placing in a round-about
phrase what one well-chosen word would
have expressed — the fault, if fault it be, was
perhaps Joseph's, and represents the grop-
ing stage in the growing vocabulary of a
student, — a stage very familiar to the teach-
er of composition.
As to other marks of the personal equa-
tion of Joseph Smith, detractors of Mor-
monism are not slow to point out that some
two thousand or more mistakes in grammar
and spelling are to be found in the first edi-
tion, which have been expunged in subse-
quent editions. Nor have they all been elim-
inated from the modern version — one does
not readily understand why. Of the occa-
sional errors remaining, the most frequent
are these: the use of "them" for "those;"
the interchangeable use of "you," "ye," and
"thou ;" the use of the plural pronouns
"they," "their," "them," after a singular an-
tecedent; the use of "had ought" for
"ought," and hadn't ought" for "ought not,"
also of "done" for "did ;" and once in a
while the use of a word ending in ing instead
of its corresponding finite verb, thus leaving
the thought hanging fire, as it were.
Respecting all these veibal errors, as well
as the numerous instances of faulty diction,
Human Side of the Book of Mormon, lie
and diction peculiar to the region in which
the Prophet passed his boyhood, the only
remark is this : they are all like so many mir-
rors reflecting the personality of Joseph
Smith, and as such are incontrovertible evi-
dences in support of the part he played in
the coming forth of the book ; while, on tht
other hand, they no more invalidate the glor-
ious message it contains than would a few
harmless leaves pollute a pure stream. Con-
sequently, he who scorns to drink deep of
the truths flowing from God through this
record, because of its homely channel, de-
serves to perish of soul-thirstiness.
III.
AS TO THE SO-CALLED ANACHRONISMS AND
MODERN QUOTATIONS.
Regarding the so-called anachronisms of
the record, — as for instance, that Laban's
sword could not have been of "purest steel"
because steel had not yet been invented, and
that there were no horses, cows, sheep, and
swine in America, till they were brought
from Europe, — it is sufficient to say here
that the gratuitous opinions of savants 'on
these matters do not close the question.
Prom the very nature of the facts involved,
no man can do more than vouchsafe his
llfi The Mormon Point of View.
opinion ; but as the dicta of past antiquar-
ians are being constantly overturned by
later discoveries, it will be well to suspend
judgment on these disputed points respect-
ing the Book of Mormon. But even should
inaccuracies be proved in secular details of
this kind, the essential mission of the book
would no more be invalidated than is that of
the Bible because of manifest discrepancies
in the cosmogony of Genesis.
We come now to a very interesting pecu-
liarity in the contents of this ancient record ;
viz, the fact that many quotations are identi-
cal with passages in the King James' ver-
sion of the Bible ; passages which it is hardly
likely were known by Mormon or Moroni
previous to writing this record. Twenty
chapters are thus incorporated bodily, or
with but slight changes, from the Old Tes-
tament, and three, containing the Sermon on
the mount, are taken from the New Testa-
ment.
"Besides these." says Linn, "Hyde counted
298 direct quotations from the New Testament,
verses or sentences, between pages 2 to 480 cov-
ering the years from 600 B. C. to Christ's birth.
Thus Nephi relates that his father, more than
2,000 years before the King James' edition of the
Bible was translated, in announcing the coming
of John the Baptist, used these words, "Tea,
even he should go forth and cry in the wild«r-
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 117
118 The Mormon Point of View.
ness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make
his paths straight; for there standeth one among
you whom ye know not; and he is mightier than
I, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to un-
loose."
These passages when examined prove not
to be "direct quotations" but rather indirect.
Thoughts couched in New Testament
phraseology, made up of bits from various
texts, — as if the translator needed to rely
upon memorized phrases to move from point
to point, — are not infrequent. The quota-
tion above noted, for instance, is made up
of two ; viz. Mark I, verse 3, "The voice of
one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the
way of the Lord, make his paths straight;"
and verse 7, "There cometh one mightier
than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not
worthy to stoop down to unloose." But
these same passages occur with slight varia-
tions respectively in Isaiah 5 '.27, and 40 :3,
which book was known to the Nephites.
However, it is not my purpose to evade
the idea that Joseph Smith's translation was
affected by the King James' version of the
Bible, for it probably was. This passage
from Moroni 7:45 is too nearly like Paul's
words in Corinthians 13, to be a mere co-
incidence :
"And charity suffereth long, and is kind,
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 119
take no advantage of your weakness. And If
men come unto me, I will show unto them their
weakness. I give unto men weakness that they
may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for
all men that humble themselves before me*; for
if they humble themselves before me, and have
faith in me, then will I make weak things be-
come strong unto them. Behold, I will show un-
to the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show
unto them that faith, hope, and charity bringetfti
unto me — the fountain of all righteousness^'
And so confident did Moroni become that
God would vindicate his work, and the work
of his father — full of weaknesses though
they were, — that he set down this promise co
the last chapter of the record:
"Behold I would exhort you, when ye shall
read these things, if it be wisdom in God that
ye shall read them .... that ye would aste
God, the eternal Father, in the name of Christ,,
if these things are not true; and if ye shafi* aaft
with a sincere heart, with real intent, having
faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of f*
unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost,"
Rather a reckless promise for an fmposter
to make, was it not ? And yet the Lord has
confirmed it to thousands and is confirming:
it every day. Herein, then, lies the source o€
Latterday Saint faith in the Book of Mor-
mon, and not primarily in either the fnter-
nal or the external evidences of its divine
authenticity. Not that they are trnrnfndfu?
of debatable assurances. They must perforce
and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh
not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no
evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth
in the truth, beareth all things, belleveth all
things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
We come, then, face to face with the ques-
tion, of how the Book of Mormon, — part of
it written 600 years before Christ, the rest of
it 400 years after, and in a place completely
isolated, so far as we know, from the east-
ern world, — could nevertheless be influenced
by the writings of the New Testament, — and
the King James' version at that, — to the ex-
tent of both direct and indirect quotations.
IV.
HOW LATTERDAY SAINTS KNOW THE BOOK OF
MORMON IS FROM GOD.
Before taking up the question with which
the last chapter closed, however, I desire to
define the attitude of ninety-nine out of
every hundred Latterday Saints on the di-
vine authenticity of this revelation. The
Prophet Moroni, the last writer in the book,
foreseeing the skepticism of the Gentiles in
our day because of imperfections in the rec-
ord, besought the Lord in much solicitude,
and received this answer to his prayer :
"Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my
grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall
120 The Mormon Point of View.
believe the testimony of the witnesses — four-
teen in all — who beheld the plates ; they
•cannot doubt that Joseph Smith dictated
and that Oliver Cowdery wrote the transla-
tion ; the text itself is proof that Joseph
could not, unaided by divine power, have in-
vented the book; and though the difficult^
<of believing it a divine record are made to
seem great and numerous, the difficulties of
not believing it are greater and more numer-
ous still.
^Nevertheless, while this overbalance of
probabilities begets credence, it is, as ob-
served above, the testimony of the Spirit
which begets conviction. That conviction
recedes to credence and credence changes to
disbelief, if men apostatize, is no evidence
against the divine authenticity of the book ;
any more than it would be proof that the
sod has ceased to shine, if men go into a
cave, where they can no longer see it. Nor
is it essential to the purposes of God that
men should believe in the Book of Mormon,
who would not become, or who have ceased
4o be, workers in the kingdom of God ; for
it is an inexorable law of progress that no
onan can long hold fast to a truth, who
evades the responsibility of living it.
.Latter-day Saints, then, are convinced that
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. VZ3.
122 The Mormon Point of View.
the Book of Mormon is a divinely inspired
book by the same testimony that tells therrt
God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, or that
the Gospel has been restored in its parity"
they know it by the testimony of the Holy
Spirit. It is this fact, the fact that their as-
surances are from a Source transcending
ordinary experience, and are therefore im-
pregnable to the logic-shafts of mundane
reasoners, which is so baffling to the med-
dlers who undertake to set them right. Pic-
ture, for instance, the chagrin of a certaii*
Reverend Lamb — whose teeth and claws as
exposed in his work proved, however, any-
thing but lamb-like — a man who set out a
few years ago with no less modest an ambi-
tion than to cause a general apostasy from
the Mormon Church. So confident was he
that this result must follow the publications
of his diatribe against the Book of Mormon
that he could scarcely conceal his exultation.
Twice did he remind his readers of Orsonr
Pratt's declaration that Mormonism must
stand or fall by this ancient record ; and fifty-
times in his book he drew the conclusions
that it had fallen under his blows never to
rise again. Picture then his chagrin, I re-
peat, when his book had no more effect on
Mormonism than would a blast of foul wind.
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 123
wholesome thoughts, and absorbing once
more the high moral atmosphere, of the
book so traduced and vilified.
And now after fifteen years, I have,
through the need of preparing the present
article, passed once more through this pain-
ful soul experience; with similar results,
however, as to my faith in the Book of Mor-
mon, and not without improvement in moral
perception; for after this last ordeal, I am
more clearly able to draw the conclusion, as
a maxim for my future guidance, that it is
destructive to one's spiritual perception of
truth to read any book begotten in hate,
however striking its contents or logical its
arguments.
And now briefly as to Mr. Lamb's argu-
ments; the first, that the book is human be-
cause of its prolix style, fails even by refer-
ence to his own standard of comparison, the
Bible, which has all kinds of style, from the
most compact to the most diffuse. The sec-
ond argument, which aims to discredit the
miracles of the Book of Mormon, fails also
from the fact that it can be turned, instance
for instance, against the miracles of the
Bible. It is merely an argument against be-
lief in miracles. The third, in which he at-
tempts to show that the Book of Mormon
And yet to be quite fair, this book is the
severest and, from the writer's point of
view, the most logically destructive arraign-
ment vet attempted against the Book of
■Mormon- I remember reading it when it
*first came out, and my experience is no
idouht more or less typical of all Mormons.
J-fad the writer concealed his hate better;
Siad lie found something good and admirable
an the book, — were it ever so small, — he
anight possibly have appealed to his Mormon
leaders with more or less effect. But when
3ie reaches the conclusion that, aside from
ats quotations of scripture, the book contains
<only the "veriest slop, an aggregate of un-
aiatural and silly stories," we instinctively
distrust his facts, and impugn his judgment.
In reading his criticisms, I felt my soul
l>eing filled with darkness and doubt ; not so
anuch from the arguments he sets forth,
which are answerable, as from inhaling the
spirit of evil lurking intangibly underneath
3iis thoughts. It was as if my spirit were in
telepathic communication with the "Spirit
ahat denies." I regained my peace of mind
only by appealing to God for a renewed tes-
timony concerning the divinity of this reve-
lation; and I got rid of the bad taste in my
mouth only by reading again the pure
124 The Mormon Point of View.
antagonizes or undermines the Bible, is the
veriest tissue of sophistry and special plead-
ing. It has force only by virtue of sectarian
bias in the reader. His two chapters on
American antiquities represent the effort of
a man who does not hesitate both to sup-
press and to exaggerate in order to make his
point. As to this argument it is, as before
suggested, profitable to wait; for these an-
tiquities have scarcely begun to be studied as
yet. There is finally his argument drawn
from the fact that the book contains numer-
ous quotations from the Old and New Tes-
taments, King James' translation; and this
brings me again to the question of how su.h
a thing could have taken place.
V.
HOW THE BOOK OF MORMON WAS PROBABLY
TRANSLATED.
In a consideration of this question the
fundamental proposition — that on which the
Mormon and his opponent must alike agree
— is the fact that, howsoever he came by his
material, Joseph Smith dictated the Book of
Mormon, without apparent hesitation, as
fast as a scribe could write it in long hand.
There is no chance for error on this point.
The entire Whitmer family, besides Oliver
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 125
L'owdery, Martin Harris, and Joseph's wife r
sat and listened, or had free access to listen,,
to the record as it grew day by day during
the entire month of June, 1829.
The second fact to bear in mind is, that
Joseph Smith did not look directly at the
plates while translating-. In fact the plates,,
while they were in the possession of the
Prophet, were probably not immediately at
hand with him during most of the transla-
tion.* His method was to place the Urim
and Thummim, (or else the Seer stone), un-
der a cover, — a hat being used for thi*
purpose ; whence, the natural light being
excluded, the "spiritual light would shine
forth," says David Whitmer. "A piece of
•This statement is based on various consid-
erations. First, if Joseph's eyes, while translat-
ing under a dark cover, where he had first
placed the interpreters, were hidden — and both
Whitmer and Harris are explicit on this point —
he would not need to have the plates at hand;
second, Joseph did not exclude the Whitmer
family, including Oliver, Martin, and Joseph's -
wife, from the room in which he was translat-
ing; to have looked at the plates as one looks
into a book would have been to expose them
to view, contrary to the commandment of the
Lord; third, David Whitmer relates that during-
the translation at his father's house, he discov-
ered evidence that the plates were hidden in the
Whitmer barn, and upon asking Joseph about
it, was assured that they were. The Angel
Moroni seems to have been the immediate-
guardian of the sacred records, during the lat-
ter part of the translation.
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 127
version of the Bible. Such an interruption
could not have escaped detection, and would
surely have been noted in the accounts of
the listeners. The quotations, therefore,
whether direct or indirect, must be regarded
as having come precisely like the rest of the
matter, and probably — save in the case of
direct transcriptions of # chapters — without
the conscious knowledge of the translator.
I mean to say, that in cases where the rec-
ord does not give credit, — in phrases or
fragments of Bible diction. — he probably did
not know at the time that he was plagiariz-
ing.
Such in brief are the facts which any the-
ory of translation must seek to cover.
Whether the one presented below shall suc-
ceed in doing so, remains to be seen. At
this point, however, let me stop to emphasize
that it is only a theory, and one which, it is
needless to say, I am ready to surrender the
moment anything more plausible shall be
presented. Moreover, as my only purpose
in thinking about this matter at all, is to
reconcile the findings of my head and my
heart, so I shall welcome the explanations
of any one else who has been thinking along
this same line. ,
My idea, then, is that the translation of
12b" The Mormon Point of View.
something resembling parchment would ap-
pear and under it was the interpretation in
English." With this explanation Martin
Harris substantially agrees ; and Mr. Lamb,
after quoting Isaac Hale, Joseph's father-in-
law, to the effect that the Prophet was
obliged, for days at a time, to hide the
plates in the woods to escape their being
stolen, adds, quite as if he had scored a
great point: "Yet the translation in the
house went right on all the same!" And
referring to Whitmer's statement that the
angel did not return the plates to Joseph
after the loss of the 116 pages manuscript, —
a statement contradicted by Joseph, however,
— Lamb continues: "So that when he used
the Urim and Thummim, he could translate
with the plates hid in the woods, and when
he used his 'peep stone' the plates were of
no avail as they could not be seen — while
the entire closing portions of the book were
translated ( ?) with the plates in heaven!"
The third fact worthy of note is that the
•dictation from start to finish proceeded
while the Prophet's eyes were thus hidden
from seeing anything by the natural light;
what I mean to say is, he did not stop to
, hunt up the passages which resemble, or are
identical with, passages in the King James'
123 The Mormon Point of View:.
the Book of Mormon is the joint product of
two men — Joseph Smith and most probably
the Angel Moroni ; that the angel was com-
missioned by God to act for the dead quite
as truly as was the Prophet for the living;
that such, in fact, is the meaning of the
words spoken to the Three Witnesses, de-
claring that the record had been translated
"by the gift and power of God."
But how, the reader is ready to ask.
Nothing could be simpler, as I view it.
Moroni, being familiar with the characters
on the plates, read them character by char-
acter ; that is to say, he looked at the sym-
bols and thereby awakened or aroused in his
mind the thought corresponding to the sym-
bols — for that is precisely what reading
means. The thought so aroused passed by
the power of the Spirit directly into the mind
of the Prophet, who in turn rendered it into
such English symbols as were at his com-
mand. Nor did the thought alone so pass :
the very image of the character that held the
attention of Moroni was flashed into Jo-
seph's mind and visualized before him, just
as David Whitmer says. What then would
be more natural, than that the English sym-
bols corresponding to the thought in Jo-
seph's mind should also be projected before
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 129
130 The Mormon Point of View.
him as a visual image? Thus we may ac-
count for the double line of symbols, ancient
and modern, which was seen by the Prophet
in the darkness surrounding the Urim and
ThummiiruJ
Now, if what was in Moroni's mind was
thus flashed to Joseph's, then by the same
law, what was in Joseph's would be flashed
back again; that is to say, Moroni would
know by the answering message whether
the new symbols being set down by the
scribe, corresponded in thought-content
with the symbols at which he was looking;
and not until then would he permit the
image to fade and pass on to another. More-
over, if we can realize how visual images
could thus be conveyed from mind to mind,
we shall have no difficulty in understanding
that auditory images could also pass;
whence the explanation of how unfamiliar
Nephite names could be reproduced/
Fortunately, science has taught us enough
concerning the laws of thought communica-
tion, — that is to say, concerning the incipi-
ent science of telepathy, — that no fact in the
above theory need stagger the student.
Stranger things are taking place today in
the laboratories of psychic research. By
"stranger" I mean merely that telepathic
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. Vol
dictions respecting this book, their budding
faith may be blighted. Nor is your meth-
od of disposing of the question one that
Elders can use in the field, when confronted
by critics of the Book of Mormon.
VI.
HOW MODERN QUOTATIONS CAME INTO THE
BOOK OF MORMON.
Let us now consider some of the subsid-
iary questions arising from this theory. The
first is naturally in relation to the Angel
Moroni. Where was he when the translat-
ing was going on? If the conclusions of
telepathy may be credited, the distance be-
tween minds communicating with each other
is not a material consideration. He might
therefore have been in the woods, where
Joseph took the plates, or even in "heaven,"
as Mr. Lamb sarcastically suggests. The
probability is that he was very near to the
Prophet, perhaps in the same room. Being
a resurrected person, he could function in-
stantly either on the mortal or the spiritual
plane, even as Christ did after his resurrec-
tion.
That Moroni did in fact so appear and
disappear at will, is evident from two in-
stances of his coming into and melting from
communication takes place under circum-
stances less simple and direct ; not that
scientific research has yet evolved telepath-
ically — or probably will evolve during the
next century — anything to compare with the
Book of Mormon either in extent or definite-
ness. My idea is simply that if man has
demonstrated the power of telepathy to ex-
ist, then it is surely worthy of faith that God
could so shape conditions as to make the
communication of the Book of Mormon
possible in the manner I have suggested.
Let me add in this connection that I am
not unmindful of the fact that this very at-
tempt to explain how the translation was
done, — the very attempt to bring into the
realm of comprehension what has been rev-
erently held hitherto as a mystery of faith, —
may shock the sensibilities of many Latter-
day Saints. To these I desire to say : It is
not for you that I am writing ; you may well
go on ignoring all attempts at unravelling
this mystery, deeply grounded as you are in
the conviction that God was equal to the
occasion, no matter what modus operandi
that involved. But remember, at the same
time, that your children do not start out
from your point of view. Without some
rational explanation of the apparent contra-
132 The Mormon Point uf Vieiv'.
view, besides that recorded by the Three
Witnesses; once to David Whitmer, Oliver
Cowdery, the Prophet and his wife, while
on their way in a wagon from Harmony to
Seneca, and once to Mother Whitmer, when
he showed her the Plates as a reward for her
faithfulness in caring for Joseph and his
scribe while translating. To this power of
becoming visible or invisible at will are
probably due also the early rumors of a
■"mysterious stranger" hovering around the
place where the translation was going on.
Moroni could therefore have stood by Jo-
seph's side, had there been need to do so,
without being seen by any mortal eye.*
The second question relates to Joseph
Smith's mental qualifications. I have sug-
gested that Moroni communicated with him
through a medium common alike to the in-
habitants of heaven, earth, and hell — the
medium of thought divorced from all sym-
bol. His part was consequently to put the
•As to the kind of beings who do God's com-
missions as angels, consider the experience of
John the Revelator: "And when I had heard and
seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of
the angel which shewed me these things. Then
saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am
thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the
prophets, and of them which keep the sayings
of this book: worship God,"— Rev. 22:8, 9. la it
not about time that Christians were revising
their notions concerning angels?
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 133
134 The Mormon Point of View.
thought so received, into English words ;
and in doing so his personal equation would
inevitably be stamped upon the translation,
as we have seen that it was. It is important
to consider now what that equation was, es-
pecially with reference to the use of words
In respect of diction, writers are of t>> »
extreme types, with all degrees of overlap-
ping. The one extreme is well represent 1
by Henry Ward Beecher, who read or lis-
tened with such intensity that he could nev-
er quote : the phraseology of others having
melted down like slag in the white heat of
his mind and yielded up the pure gold of
their ideas. When such a man writes, every
phrase is coined anew and therefore
stamped indelibly with the writer's individ-
uality.
The other extreme is represented by ev-
ery beginner in the thought world and, for
that matter, by nine-tenths of those who
grow old in it. They gather ideas with more
or less avidity, both from books and men;
but they stow away these ideas without un •
dressing them, — boots and all, so to speak.
Consequently, when these try to write, lhev
proceed from phrase to phrase, rather than
from word to word; and there is always a
certain conventionality or triteness in their
style, — a resemblance to others in phrase-
ology which would convict them of plagiar-
ism, should their productions be compared
critically with the authors they have read.
To this latter class belongs, as I have in-
timated, every tyro in composition, and
therefore Joseph Smith ; at least this WaJ
probably true of him during that early per-
iod when he was put to the stress of invent-
ing the style of the Book of Mormon. As
long as the thought communicated by Moro-
ni ran along in simple narrative, the experi-
ences of his own life furnished the Prophet
with an original diction; but the moment it
ascended into abstract realms, he had to
draw upon his stock of phrases — upon that
part of his vocabulary which, in the lan-
guage of psychology, had not been apper-
ceived or melted down in the crucible of in-
dividual experience. When we consider
that this part of his vocabulary had been
stored almost exclusively by contact with
ministers of the Gospel, and through rea 1-
ing the King Tames' version of the Bible,
we have an adequate explanation of why
scriptural phraseolop'" enters so largely into
the style of the Book of Mormon.
In a word, this explanation is that the
thought in the original and the thought in
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 135
the translation are the same: melted down
from the symbols in each tongue, they
would be identical; recast, either in the
Nephite or in the English language, the
thought would take a new dress as often as
tnue should be a new matrix, i. e., a dif-
ferently adjusted set of thinking powers in
the translator. Had the thought of the
Book of Mormon been flashed into a mind
like that of Webster or Beecher, it would
undoubtedly have been moulded into forms
of expression which would have left no
chance for the charge of plagiarism. As it
was, the thought could do nothing else than
take the line of least resistance, and that was
the line of expression familiar to the trans-
lator through contact with the King Janes'
version of the scriptures.
As before suggested, from the fact that
the witnesses of the mode of translation
have nowhere said that Joseph stopped to
read passages from the Bible, it is fair to
assume that those chapters which occur
identical in both books, were received and
dictated by the same telepathic communion
as the rest of the matter ; that is, the Prophet
himself did not probably know, at tl^e rime
of translating, how the result would com-
pare with the English version of the Bible.
13ti The Mormon Point of View.
Are we then to assume that the Scriptures
as known to the Nephites were identical, in
form of expression, with the scriptures in
the King James' version? By no means.
That the thought was the same, we may well
believe, since this is God's part of scripture.
There is surely no difficulty in holding that
Christ would give the sermon on the mount
in practically the same mental concepts to the
Nephites that He did to the Jews. Now,
had Joseph never read the English version,
he would have been obliged to coin these
concepts anew as best he could; in which
case his rendering would have differed from
Matthew's as much at least as do those of
the other three evangelists ; but even if we
suppose he had read Matthew's only once,
we must allow that the thought would take
the channel broken in preference to one un-
broken, unless the translator strongly willed
otherwise.
As an instance of the truth that probably
no impression on the consciousness is ever
completely effaced, Mr. Hudson, in his
epoch-making book, "The Law of Psvchic
Phenomena," relates that a servant-girl,
when put into the clairvoyant state, aston-
ished her hearers by reciting perfectly a
Greek poem in die original attic tongue.
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 137
138 The Mormon Point of View.
Theosophists claimed the circumstance as
evidence of re-incarnation ; but it was finally
explained that ten years previous she had
been present, dusting a certain library,
while a noted scholar had recited the poem
to a friend. Psychic research reveals many
similar instances. It is not difficult to be-
lieve, therefore, that Joseph's mind would
without his knowledge retain whole chap-
ters of the Bible, which would spring ver-
batim unto consciousness when brought into
association with the thought that originally
inspired them. This view requires that
quotations and so-called plagiarisms shad
always be from the King James' version. —
the only Bible probably known to the early
life of the Prophet, — and this, as we have
seen, was the case. .
VII.
AS TO THE PART PLAYED BY THE INTERPRET-
ERS.
J The next question is as to the part played
by the "interpreters" in the translation. It
was, of course, entirely to be expected that
men of such simple minds as Martin Harris
and David Whitmer should ascribe the se-
cret of reading an ancient language to mere
mechanical means ; the most obvious explan-
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 139
tober 25 and 26, 183 1, when pressed on this
question, he replied that it was "not expedi-
ent to tell the world all the particulars of the
coming forth of the Book of Mormon."
Furthermore, certain facts connected with
the history of the translation make it per-
fectly clear that, howsoever the work was
done, the real theater of its doing was the
Prophet's mind, not the "interpreters;" that
the latter were in fact, what common-sense
would declare them to be, merely a means
to an end, in the same sense as the micro-
scope, the telescope, or the telephone.
The first of these facts relates to the at-
tempt of Oliver Cowdery to translate. He
had earnestly prayed for the gift and the
Lord through Joseph had promised it to
him: "Yea, behold, I will tell you in your
mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost
which shall come upon you, and which shall
dwell in your heart." Nevertheless when he
tried to translate he could see nothing. He
evidently had the notion that translating was
merely a matter of looking into the U'rim
and Thummim, rather than of coming into
spiritual rapport with God. "Behold," said
the Lord in a later revelation, "you have not
understood ; you have supposed that I would
give it unto you, when you took no thought,
ation being that the mystery of it lay hidden
mainly in the Urim and Thummim or Seer
stone.
This is, indeed, a very comfortable theory
to hold — like all beliefs based on that
shadowy foundation, mystery. It requires
no mental exertion, no intricacy of percep-
tion, and like the account of creation in Gen-
esis, seems so final as to be extremely sooth-
ing and bracing to dogmatic minds. Unfor-
tunately it leaves us in two' serious dilem-
mas. On the one hand, it makes the Proph-
et a mere automaton, needing no other men-
tal qualification than ability to read words
on a sign-board ; and on the other it makes
God responsible for all the errors, — mis-
takes in spelling, grammar, punctuation,
diction, sentential structure, and modern
quotation, — which are undoubtedly to be
found in the translation. These are super-
ficial errors, it is true, and therefore strong
evidences of the genuineness of the book, if
viewed as the personal equation of Joseph
Smith ; but inexplicable and therefore very
damaging, if attributed to the LordJ
That the Prophet himself did not hold so
transparently mechanical a view of his work,
is evident from his silence on the real modus
operandi. At a conference in Kirtland, Oc-
140 The Mormon Point of View.
save it was to ask me. . . . You must
study it out in your mind ; then ... if
it is right, I will cause that your bosom shall
burn within you. If not you shall have
a stupor of thought that shall cause you to
forget the thing which is wrong."
This inci dent sho w g *^*t it if p r imarily__
the mind a nd heart, not a mechanical instru-
ment, through w rnVh Q»H mmmnniratps
messages to man. O f similar import is the
following incident, as related by David
Whitmer :
"At times when Brother Joseph would look
into the hat in which the stone was placed, he
found he was spiritually blind and could not
translate. He told us his mind dwelt too much
on earthly things. — When in this condition he
would go out and pray, and when he became
sufficiently humble before God, he could then
proceed with the translation. — One morning
when he was getting ready to continue the
translation, something went wrong about the
house and he was put out about it — something
that Emma, his wife, had done. Oliver and I went
upstairs and Joseph came up soon after — but
he could not translate a single syllable. He went
down stairs, out Into the orchard, and made sup-
plication to the Lord; was gone about an hour
—came back to the house, asked Emma's for-
giveness and then came up stairs where we
were, and then the translation went on all
right."
Not only do we see in this incident that it
was the soul of the Prophet which had to
come into communion with God, — or with
the being whom God had appointed to the
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 141
work of translation, — but we also catch a
glimpse of the stern conditions of that com-
munion.
A third circumstance emphasizes the fact
that the "interpreters" were merely a means
to an end, and serves, moreover, to point out
that end. This circumstance lies in the fact
that i_jit first God communicated with the
Prophet by vision, a condition of complete
abeyance of the ordinary physical conscious-
ness ; next he spoke to him through an an-
gel, — that is, palpably, or as one man speaks
to another ; then he revealed his will through
the Urim and Thummim, — a condition of
physical consciousness, but involving at t^e
same time intense psychic concentration;
later communications occur through the
"Seer stone," an ordinary chocolate-colored
pebble, but always under similar conditions
of complete abstraction from things world-
ly; at last we find the Prophet communing
with God without need of aid from instru-
ment of anv kind.
In this series may be seen the gradual
growth of Joseph's telepathic powers. The
conclusion seems inevitable that the "inter-
preters" were merely a means of helping the
Prophet so to withdraw his mind from the
1451 The Mormon Point of View.
physical plane, as to enter into correspond-
ence with beings on the spiritual plane/j
Consider how admirable was this arrange-
ment of means to secure the end which I
have suggested. The head-covering effectu-
ally shut out the objects of the natural
world, and focused expectation on the inner
world ; for there, whispered faith, at a point
a few inches from the eye, on the very sur-
face of the medium, would presently appear
the message. The Prophet had only to wait
in a spirit of quiet concentration. He had
perfect faith in the efficacy of the instru-
ment ; for had it not been consecrated to the
purpose ? That very fact would engender the
child-like expectancy necessary to commun-
ion with another mind through the medium
of the Holy Ghost. Presently the spiritual
light burst — the characters appeared — the
translation went on.
["Any object consecrated by God, and suf-
ficiently believed in by man, would have had
a like effect. Indeed, the crown of the hat,
could faith have been made expectant
enough by it, would have served the same
purpose, — provided it had also been accept-
ed by God. The best of mechanical con-
trivances are probably only crutches to help
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 14;i u4 The Mormon Point of View.
keep steady a limping faith. A handkerchief
sent by the Prophet healed the sick once;
not because there was virtue in this frag-
ment of linen, but because it awakened and
concentrated faithT] In this present life we
must see as we can, "through a glass dark-
ly;" there comes a time for all of us, as
there did for the Prophet, when we shall see
"face to face," without need of mechanical
medium.
Note well the reciprocal aspect, above
pointed out, respecting any revelation given
to man. A medium of communion — such as
the Seer stone — may be sanctioned by God,
yet be ineffectual unless it serves to quicken
.in man the faith necessary to such com-
munion. On the other hand, man may set
up some medium in which he has all confi-
dence, yet his faith will be vain, if God does
not accept it as a basis of communion.
Such an explanation will help us to under-
stand the outcome of a trick played by Mar-
tin Harris on the Prophet while they were
translating the 116 pages of manuscript
which were afterward lost. Martin had
slyly substituted for the "Steer stone," an
oval-shaped pebble just like it, which he had
picked up on the river bank. On looking
into the hat, Joseph exclaimed: "What is
the matter, Martin? All is as dark as
Egypt." Martin's face betrayed him. "Why
did you do that?" censured Joseph. "To stop
the mouths of fools, who say you are re-
peating all this out of your head," was the
reply.
The Angel Moroni, acting for God, could
not permit the trick to succeed, even though
Joseph's faith was perfect It is to be feared,
however, that Martin drew the wrong con-
clusion from the failure. He probably de-
cided that "seer" stones are intrinsically
different, by internal structure, from stones
of the same chemical composition and other-
wise resembling them ; the true conclusion
probably is that the difference is one made
entirely by the will of God. That medium
only is accepted which he himself appoints,
not that which man appoints for him. Had
the stone picked up by Martin been set apart
instead of the other, as a means of bridging
for Joseph the chasm between the natural
and the spiritual plane, there is no reason
whatever why it should not have served the
purpose equally well.
The principle involved in this distinction
is a vital one ; for on it hinges our attitude
toward all man-constituted agencies of sal-
vation, as well as toward the fetich or relic
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 145
worship so common in one division of the
Christian world. It is not denied that God's
will may endow with miraculous powers
otherwise inanimate things ; as for instance,
Aaron's rod that budded; the Ark of the
Covenant whence issued the voice of Jeho-
vah ; the Brass ball or directors given to
Lehi, which pointed the direction to travel;
and the sixteen stones cut from the moun-
tain by the Brother of Jared, which became
luminous by the touch of the finger of the
Lord. But in all these cases the power still
resides in the will of God: should any at-
tempt be made to use them for purposes
different from those to which they were con-
secrated, they would perhaps instantly be-
come as inert and useless as so much similar
raw material. It is to be hoped that Latter-
day Saints will never forget this fact — that
power to do is inseparable from intelligence,
and intelligence is possible only to a sentient
being; else we shall be in danger of such
superstitions as believing, for instance, that
a fragment of the true Cross, or the so-
called holy grail, or any other piece of inert
matter, is endowed with divine powers sim-
ply from having been casually associated
with the Savior, or some other exalted be-
ing.
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 147
Lord." Is it less a truth to you that the
translator made the divine affirmation with a
singular instead of a plural verb? If it is,
perish the culture that has made your men-
tal palate so finical — the false education
which discovers surfaces to your mind but
hides depths ! The Book of Mormon will
no doubt be a stumbling block to you; for
you are of that carping type which seek er-
ror rather than truth. With such a soul-
attitude, there are no native, unelaborated
truths in God's universe for you : even dia-
monds are but. worthless pebbles in your
path, until someone has cut and polished
them. All nature conspires to hide the real-
ity and fill your mind with the show of
things. In the language of scripture, God
(i. e. the harmony of the universe) sends
you strong delusions that you may believe
a lie and be damned ; simply because the
love of truth is not in you.
Take another sentence — which Lamb says
"caps the climax of absurdities" in the faulty
grammar and diction of the book. If it
really is the worst specimen, as this carping
critic says, then no verbal error is bad at
all, at least in the sense of hiding or obscur-
ing the thought. Here is the sentence:
"He went forth among the people, waving
L4(j The Mormon Point of View.
That the Urim and Thummim or Seer
stone had a definite part to play in the
translation, — whether the simple mission of
assisting the Prophet to spiritual concentra-
tion, as I have suggested, or some other, —
matters not now ; the tiling to bear in mind
is that the Book of Mormon is the product —
let the means be what they may — of an in-
telligence in the spiritual plane reacting up-
on an intelligence in a mortal plane ; that is
to say, the vital issue in this problem of
translation is one of mind not one of matter.
VIII.
CONCLUSION : THE BOOK OF MORMON A
DIVINE RECORD.
The last question I shall treat in this es-
say relates to the book itself. Is it an in-
spired record? Was the. Prophet right in
declaring that a man would be able to get
the truths of the Gospel more nearly pure
from this revelation than from any other
scripture ?
Several interesting phases of this question
immediately present themselves. The first
is as to the relation of truth to the dress it
wears. Suppose you should read in the
Book of Mormon this sentence: "Whore-
doms is an abomination in the sight of the
148 The Mormon Point of View.
the rent of his garment in the air, that all
might see the writing which he had wrote on
the rent." If the love of truth is in your
soul, the real thought in this passage will
not fail you. Let the symbols be what they
may, this is what you read : "He went forth
among the people waving the rent garment
in the air that all might see the words he had
written upon it."
Moreover, if the occasion leading up to
the manifesto described in these words, has
been appreciated, you will be quite blind to
the trivial slips in diction ; for you will real-
ize with intense interest that this was the
first suggestion of a battle flag among the
Nephites. At a critical moment in a terrible
war, Moroni "rent his coat, and taking a
piece thereof he wrote upon it : In memory
of our God, our religion, our freedom, and
our peace, our wives, and our children."
This improvised ensign he raised on a pole,
calling it the "title of liberty." Surely the
interests to which he apoealed are the most
deep and searching in the human heart ; and
when we read how the device caused the
people to rally round him, and became in
time a precious national heirloom, — the last
trace of vexation, which we may have felt
respecting the faulty symbols of the thought,
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 1-i'J
is swallowed in our admiration for the
greatness of the thought itself.
And so of all other passages complained
of by critics. The man who primarily seeks
thought, caring little to scrutinize its dress —
the man who reads while he runs — will not
fail to have his soul stirred as was his who
wrote and his who translated the record;
ambiguities lie only in the path of the super-
critical. That these latter should stumble
along, finding only matter for offense in the
book, is as if some rare exotic of a tender-
foot, viewing the magnificent expanse of one
of our deserts, should be blind to the deep
overarching blue resting on its endlessly
varied horizon, deaf to the silent eloquence
of its solitudes, and insensible to its prodi-
gal wealth of pure air and glorious sunshine
— all because his dainty toe came in contact
with one of its prickly pears !
Elsewhere I have intimated that had a
mind like Beecher furnished the symbols of
thought for the Book of Mormon we should
have had a record as full of subtle surprises
in diction as the present translation is inno-
cently free of them. It would then have
passed muster perhaps as an English classic.
But would the underlying truths, which
form the soul of the book, have been the
more divinely inspired that they were
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 151
ards? Which would be the easier
problem, to brighten the unused, il-
literate mind to the point wherein it
could do God's service, or bend to new ideals
and make instantly plastic to His will, the
fixed soul-attitude of some world-renowned
religious philosopher?
Picture Jonathan Edwards, for instance,
giving up piece by piece, under the influence
of God's command, the cherished mental
creations of his life, and stripping himself
little by little of the vestments of popularity
so dear to him, to clothe himself instead in
the sack-cloth and ashes of universal theo-
logical reprobation! He could no more
have done it than a camel can get through
the eye of a needle. I do not mean to assert
that, had he truly realized such mental read-
justment was God's command, he would yet
have lacked the moral courage necessary for
martyrdom, or even for what would have
been harder to him — ostracism; he may or
may not have lacked such .courage. What I
mean to say is, that he was so opinionated
that God could never have made him realize
something as His will which involved the
tearing up of the very anchorage of his
spiritual life.
The reader will probably agree with me,
then, that looked at from the human point
150 The Mormon Point of View.
dressed to suit the taste of grammarian and
rhetorician? As well say that the forests
on our mountain tops show no evidence of a
divine hand, because nowhere do they con-
form to the artistic designs of the landscape
gardener.
The next question is as to the relationship
of truth and him who gives it an earthly
dress. That God should have chosen an un-
lettered youth like Joseph Smith to be the
mouthpiece of so important a revelation, is
incredible to many good people. Nor do I
wish to dismiss this objection with the usual
remark that God's ways are not man's ways
and must therefore not be judged by the
same standard. Nevertheless, in order to
look at the question rationally, it may be
well to put it in this way : '
Suppose that no higher wisdom than that
of which man is capable should have guided
our Father in heaven in choosing a prophet
to usher in this new dispensation — a dispen-
sation which, be it remembered, was pre-
destined to be widely divergent from the re-
ceived religions of the world, — would that
wisdom have chosen a mind unbiased to-
ward any prevalent system, even though it
were illiterate, or would it have chosen a
mind keenly bright and educated, but
set in its moral and spiritual stand-
152 The Mormon Point of View.
of view the untrammeled mind of Joseph
Smith was a better medium for God's pur-
posed iconoclasm, than would have been the
mind of any other man with a hundred times
the mental polish, yet lacking the necessary
plasticity. But even had this not been so,
there was practically no other course left for
the Lord than to choose just such a mind.
We say, indeed, that nothing is impossi-
ble to God, — by which we probably mean
that all things are possible to him which are
not impossible in themselves. This, however,
God cannot do and remain God : he cannot
compel men to come unto him; for that
would be taking away their free agency. In
the early days of the Prophet, learned theo-
logians, however they might differ among
themselves respecting creed and ritual, were
unanimous on one thing ; viz, that there was
never to be any more communication be-
tween God and man, as in Bible davs. To
them, therefore, the book of revelation was
closed and sealed ; and this, too, not only in
theory but also in fact. For had there not
been a mind on the earth constituted like
Joseph Smith's — a mind willing to receive
new revelation, — God would literally have
been barred out from further conscious
counsel in the affairs of men, by sheer want
of faith on man's part.
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. Ib'S
154 The Mormon Point of View.
So much from man's point of view. Let
us now try to look at this question from
God's point of view.
While we may admit that Joseph Smith
was illiterate, and as the world views learn-
ing, might even have been called ignorant,
yet we are by no means prepared to con-
cede that any man in his day and time stood
higher in the scale of intelligence, as. God
measures souls. In Mormon theology man
does not figure as merely the ephemeral
creature of mortality — doubtful of past or
future existence. On the contrary, there is
in him that which is co-eternal with the uni-
verse. And so varied and significant was
the life he led during (perhaps) millions of
years with God, that every soul born into
mortality might, in lesser degree, pray the
prayer of our Elder Brother: "Father,
glorify thou me with the glory 1 had with
thee, before the world was."
And what is more, the present life of any
soul may still be open in the direction of its
Maker, if that soul wills to keep the gates of
faith ajar; though God, cannot keep them
open without the soul's consent. If there-
fore our Father should desire a spirit to do
work of salvation on this lowly plane of
earth in behalf of its fellow spirits who have
Human Side of the Book of Mormon. 155
womb, I sanctified thee, and ordained thee
a prophet unto the nations." This is the
way in which one of these obscure men —
Jeremiah — was called ; that is to say, God
chose him in view of his record during pre-
existence, not because of any earthly pre-
eminence to which he might attain ; which is
probably the way in which all his servants
are chosen for their earthly missions.
Coming back then to Joseph Smith and
the Book of Mormon, let us bless the mem-
ory of the unlettered boy whose trust in God
did not falter; from out whose mouth
streamed forth, even though in faltering
phrase, the history of a buried civilization ;
who did not stop to argue with the Lord,
or insist upon his point of view, but spoke
right on as thoughts and emotions were
awakened in his soul ; whose life, though not
tree from errors of judgment, exemplified
daily the prayer of our Savior : "Father, thy
will, not mine, be done;" and whose death
placed him in the ranks of those who have
died for the testimony of Jesus.
As to the Book of Mormon, it is not a hu-
man invention because it is dressed in Mie
garb of human phraseology. Like the
Bible, it has a soul apart from its incarnation
in words — a truthness that shall live on,
shut the gate between themselves and God,
to whom would he speak, if not to that soul
whose channel of spiritual communion is
still open? And so also in judging the fit-
ness of any man for such a divine commis-
sion, which think you God would gauge him
by, the fitful moments of his earthly career,
or the measureless record of his pre-exist-
ence?
It does not follow, therefore, because a
man has not won a recognized intellectu.il
standing among men, that his intelligence, —
that is to say, his capacity for receiving and
acting out Truth — is less than that of the
greatest of earthly savants. Which, indeed,
of the Bible prophets, if we except the Apos-
tle Paul, could claim the credence of man-
kind on the score of learning? Were they
not all, with this single exception, of the
same type as Joseph Smith? — Men whose
greatness lay solely in the fact that their
souls were prisms through which the white
light of infinite Truth was differentiated in-
to the myriad-hued duties and obligations
of social life ; duties and obligations the
daily reactions from which bring man near-
er to God.
"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew
thee, and before thou earnest forth out of the
156 The Mormon Point of View.
though words change their meaning and
grow obsolete ; and like some majestic pine
that sloughs the dried and withered branch-
es which have ceased to serve its life, so in
time will the Book of Mormon free iteelf
from those errors in word and phrase which
are blemishes now only to the superficial
man, but which do not hide the beauty and
symmetry of its inner truths to the soul that
is earnestly seeking the way of life.
From Patriarch Charles D. Evans, a man
as scholarly as he is spiritual-minded, comes
the following comment on the leading article
of the last number: "Its philosophy is
searching, and places religion in direct har-
mony with natural law. It is a work of in-
tense thought, and a thorough refutation of
that theology whose narrowness separates re-
ligion from the universe of which it is an es-
sential part. I was struck with your descrip-
tion of the Sons of Perdition (note, p. 50) :
'Men in respect of obedience to God are like
beacon-fires : as long as a spark of the di-
vine life remains, it can be kindled unto re-
pentance ; but suppose it goes out, — can you
rekindle ashes? The Sons of Perdition are
merely the ash-heaps of divine fires that
have gone out', — a comparison which por-
trays the awful condition with a lucidity
which makes one almost feel the spirit of
their hopelessness."
158 The Mormon Point of View.
THE DICTIONARY OF SLANDER.
Of one thing in respect to Mormonism
the world seems absolutely convinced, viz.,
that Joseph Smith could not have written
the Book of Mormon. For a long while
therefore it rested easy in its eager accept-
ance of the Hurlbut, alias Howe, invention
that the new Bible was none other than the
stolen manuscript of Solomon Spaulding.
Hurlbut found no difficulty in securing a
dozen sworn statements, from men who
claimed to have heard Spaulding read his
story, identifying the names and incidents
of the two books. Especially did these affi-
davits dwell on one identical mannerism in
the style, viz., the oft-recurring phrase "It
came to pass." What more proof was need-
ed where everyone was more than willing
to believe?
From this complaisant attitude, the world'
was, however, rudely awakened when Mr.
Fairchilds, president of the Oberlin College,
Ohio, discovered Spaulding's long-lost
manuscript — among a lot of old papers in
the library of his friend, Mr. L. L. Rice of
Honolulu, and with its publication vanished
the last screen protecting this old refuge of
liars and lies. Hurlbut, Howe, and the oth-
er conscienceless scoundrels* whom they in-
duced to swear to false affidavits, stood out
naked for what they were. So far from the
words "Nephi, Lehi, Lamanite, Nephite and
all the principal names" of the Book of Mor-
mon being in the Sapulding story, there
•I have looked at this word "scoundrels"
both in hot manuscript and also in cold print,
debating whether to change it. I first try to
think, with President Fairchilds, that the time
was so remote when these men listened to
Spaulding's readings, that the two stories have
since become confounded in their memories.
Then I turn to the "Manuscript Found" and
read Hurlbut' s own endorsement thereon:
"The Writings of Solomon Spalding Proved by
Aron Wright Oliver Smith John Miller and oth-
ers [the very men who signed these affidavits].
The testimonies of the above gentlemen are now
in my possession;" and when I fully realize that
thi3 is therefore the story in which they make
affidavit to finding "Nephi, Lehi, Lamanite,"
etc., and the words "It came to pass," so often
recurring that they were led to nickname
Spaulding "Old come-to-pass;" and when I re-
member, furthermore, that Hurlbut could have
made this endorsement only in 1834, the year
when he got this manuscript from Mrs. Spaul-
ding's trunk and turned it over to E. D. Howe —
two years before Howe's book, containing Hurl-
but's testimonies, appeared; and consequently
must conclude that Hurlbut and Howe knew,
and these men knew that they were deliberately
swearing to a falsehood. — when I realize all this
I must let the word stand with all of Webster's
signification: "A mean, worthless fellow; a
man without honor or virtue." Moreover, when
I reflect that these men were not loath thus to
cast aspersion on a whole people, because for-
sooth it was safe, even popular, to do so, I leave
also the word "conscienceless" to keep the word
"scoundrels" company.
The Dictionary of Slander. 159
proved to be not even the remotest likeness
between them. "Mr. Rice, myself and oth-
ers," writes President Fairchilds, "have
compared it with the Book of Mormon, and
could detect no resemblance between the two
in general or in detail. There seems to be
no name or incident common to the two."
This was in 1884. For twenty years the
traducers of Mormonism were paralyzed by
the unwelcome revelation. Now comes one
William Alexander Linn, who attempts to
resurrect the old slander with two import-
ant variations : first, that the original of the
Book of Mormon was another story by Solo-
mon Spaulding, and second, that it was doc-
tored up and made a religious romance by
Sidney Rigdon. The latter variation be-
came necessary because of the fact that the
Reverend ( !) Solomon Spaulding, held for
so long to be an eminent Presbyterian di-
vine, turned out, by his own confessions, to
be a rank infidel.*
•"It [the Christian Religion] is in my view
a mass of contradictions and an heterogeneous
mixture of wisdom and folly — nor can I find any
clear and inco.itrovertable evidence of its being
a revelation from an infinite benevolent and
wise God I disavow any belief in the
divinity of the Bible and consider it a mere
human production designed to enrich and a? •
randlze Its authors & to enable them to manage
the multitude." — Solomon Spaulding's confes-
nlon of faith, an addendum to the "Manuscript
160 The Mormon Point of View.
SIDNEY RIGDON A THIEF AND FORGER.
That is the proposition which Linn must
next sustain, if he is to account for the Book
of Mormon as a rehash of the Spaulding
Manuscript. The difficulties are tremen-
dous and might well stagger even so steady
a hater as he, were it not that he feels in-
stinctively how anything will pass for proof
against Mormonism.
For instance, he has first to prove that
Spaulding wrote a story that is within gun-
shot likeness of the Book of Mormon. Had
the "Manuscript Found" been burned, as
Hurlbut thought it was, this would have
been very easy, — judging by the affidavits
Hurlbut, alias Howe, collected ; but as it
turns up in all its amateur crudity, Mr. Linn
must show that Spaulding wrote "another"
manuscript, "going further back with dates,
and writing in the old scripture style, in or-
der that it might appear more ancient."
He must next get this manuscript where
Sidney Rigdon can copy it surreptitiously —
in other words, steal it outright. Mr. Rig-
don m ust, moreover, be supplied with a mo-
Found." Could such a foundation be the source
of the pure and exalted spirituality of the Book
of Mormon? Linn evidently thinks not, whence
the need of working in Sidney Rigdon.
The Dictionary of Slander.
ItiL
102 The Mormon Point of View.
tive for stealing it: This motive Mr. Linn
finds in a deep-laid plot by Rigdon to start a
new religion, in order to get revenge on {he
"Campbells," who got all the glory for
founding the Disciple or Campbellite
Church — a glory which Rigdon should have
shared.
Rigdon must next have been attracted —
somehow — to Joseph Smith as the very
man to become the prophet of the new dis-
pensation. Accordingly he makes Rigdon
prepare the copy of the Book of Mormon,
by injecting into the "other" Spaulding's
manuscript the religious dogmas of the
Campbellites, and then makes him take it by
installments to Joseph Smith ; who, hid be-
hind a screen, dictates it to a scribe, quite
according to the verified account of its com-
ing forth. Rigdon thereby becomes the
"mysterious visitor," seen entering and
leaving Joseph's house occasionally, in the
early accounts by the Prophet's neighbors.
But now come two difficulties. The first
is that Rigdon, whose motive for theft and
forgery was to get even with the Campbells
for robbing him of glory, consents neverthe-
less to play second fiddle to Joseph Smith
and to be "snubbed and ill-treated" by the
very tool of his successful villainy. Mr.
The Dictionary of Slander.
63
profit. This Mr. Spaulding refused to do. Sid-
ney Rigdon, who has figured so largely in the
history of the Mormons, was at that time con-
nected with the printing office of Mr. Patterson,
as is well known in that region, and, as Rigdon
himself had frequently stated, became acquaint-
ed with Mr. Spaulding's manuscript and copied
it. It was a matter of notoriety and interest to
all connected with the printing establishment
At length the manuscript was returned to its
author, and soon after he removed to Amity
where Mr. Spaulding deceased in 1816. The
manuscript then fell into my hands, and was
carefully preserved."
There are four trifling objections, how-
ever, to the truth of this explanation: (i)
Mrs. Davison, Spaulding's widow, came
out with an affidavit immediately afterward,
discrediting many of the facts in this letter
and denying that she wrote it. It was sub-
sequently proved to be the concoction of one
Reverend(!) D. R. Austin. (2) "Rigdon
himself in a letter addressed to the Boston
Journal, under date of May 27, 1839, denied
all knowledge of Spaulding," so Linn ad-
mits, "and declared that there was no printer
named Patterson in Pittsburg during his
residence there." (3) The manuscript has,
as we have seen, been found and identified.
It is, moreover, a piece of writing that no
sane man would think of copying.
(4) Spaulding died in 1816, and as the theft
Linn sees in the latter fact some deep mys-
terious power which the younger man exer-
cised over the older, — quite in the dime nov-
el fashion. The other difficulty is the very
consistent, logical, undeviating account by
Joseph Smith of each successive event in
the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.
But this narrative, Mr. Linn points out, was
not written till 1838, ten years after the
translation of the Book of Mormon, and
seven years after Sidney Rigdon joined the
Church — time enough for the arch-plotter
Rigdon to make the invention smooth and
plausible !
Let us now take up these various aspects
and see in what shape they leave this last
traducer of Mormonism. Mr. Linn (p. 52)
quotes from the "Boston Recorder," May,
1839, what purports to be Mrs. Davison's
history of her former husband's story.
"After giving an account of the writing of
the story, her statement continues as fol-
lows :"
"Here (in Pittsburg) Mr. Spaulding found a
friend and acquaintance in the person of Mr.
Patterson, who was very much pleased with it.
and borrowed it for perusal. He retained it for
a long time, and informed Mr. Spaulding that.
/ if he would make out a title page and preface,
he would publish it, as it might be a source of
lti4 The Mormon Point of View.
is purported to have been before that, it was
at least fifteen years previous to the coming
out of the Book of Mormon, or at a time
when Rigdon could not have had the motive
imputed to him.*
Nevertheless, on the strength of this
pious invention Mr. Linn proceeds to build
up his hypothesis of another manuscript,
and of Rigdon's theft and forgery ; bolster-
ing it by the affidavits of such men as John
N. Miller and Aaron Wright, above quoted
— men who are demonstrated to have sworn
to lies. Linn's subterfuge is, however, un-
worthy of credence for following reasons:
(i) Spaulding never claimed anywhere or
to anyone to have written more than one
story about ancient America. (2) His wife
refers constantly to only one — the "Manu-
script Found." (3) His daughter, whose
testimony has already been quoted, men-
tions no other, though she often went
through his papers in the old trunk and
handled this manuscript, which, she says,
was "about an inch thick and closely writ-
•The Campbellite or "Disciples of Christ"
Church was not launched till 1827. Should
Rigdon have developed the motives of jealousy
gratuitously imputed to him by Linn, he would
have found it somewhat difficult to reach back
previous to the year 1816, to get the means of
gratifying his pique against Campbell!
The Dictionary of Slander. 165
166 The Mormon Point of View.
ten." (4) Hurlbut got permission to open
this trunk, and found but one story — the
"Manuscript Found" — which he turned
over to E. D Howe.*
Any one of these reasons must seriously
discredit Mr. Linn's theory, but here is a
reason absolutely fatal to it: Solomon
Spaulding not only did not, he could not,
write the narrative of the Book of Mormon.
It is not possible for the author of the crude
story from which I have quoted, to have
changed his style to one so totally unlike
it as that of the Book of Mormon. On this
point no bolstering by false affidavits will
count: there are the two styles side by
side.t The transition from one to the other
would not have been possible, even to the
versatility of a Shakespeare, without leav-
•What Hurlbut was looking for was the
story that should support the charge he had
already made respecting the Book of Mormon:
whence the meaning of his words, as quoted by
Linn: "Why, if it had been the real one, I
could have sold it for $3,000."
fit is unlikely," comments President Fair-
child, "tiat any one who wrote so elaborate a
work as the Mormon Bible would spend hia
time getting up so shallow a story as this - -
Mr. Rice, myself, and others compared it with
the Book of Mormon, and could detect no re-
semblancB between the two in general or in de-
tail. Th3re seems to be no name or incident
common to the two. - - - - Some other ex-
planation of the origin of the Book of Mormon
must be found."
The Dictionary of Slander. 167
davits. No doubt if the notorious apostate
is still alive, he could easily find some white-
haired confederate who would remember
Spaulding ; remember hearing him read this
crude story ; remember distinctly suggesting
to him that he write another story, entirely
unlike it, tracing the origin of the Indians
back' to the Israelites ; and who would, for
a consideration, recollect "*s if it were yes-
terday" how he visited his gifted friend a
year or two later and listened, during the
long winter evenings, to this new story. It
can be done yet, Mr. Linn ; and the world is
hungering and thirsting for just such ro-
mance. Moreover, this is a progressive age,
— why not trot out some fresh lies?
Unfortunately for Linn and his cult, we
have a sufficient arc of Mr. Spaulding's au-
thorship to determine accurately his literary
orbit ; and as before suggested, ten thousand
affidavits could not bring that orbit within
the circle of the Book of Mormon. The
proof of this, for any sane man, is the un-
biased reading of both books. As no scin-
tilla of reliable evidence exists that Spaul-
ding ever wrote another book, and as the
proof is overwhelming that he could not,
from sheer want of literary power, have
written the Book of Mormon, — as, in short,
ing some trace of similarity in name, geo-
graphical allusion, diction, phraseology, or
imagery. Yet this very miracle of trans-
formation, which, as every scholar will ad-
mit, would not be possible even to a master
of style, Mr. Linn would have us believe
possible to a mind all but fossilized in its
sterile rigidity, — a style whose very senten-
tial structure proclaims almost an entire ab-
sence of versatility !
This much-exploited plagiary canard, as
well as Linn's recent variation of it, rests
therefore solely on the malicious invention
of an apostate bent upon doing harm to the
religion which had cast him out. That the
vorld believed it «o eagerly, is explanation
enough for the subsidiary lies with which it
has been bolstered from time to time. Th»
new turn which Linn gives to the slander,
is likely to be received also with similar
avidity; nor will it lack confirmation from
the "makers and lovers" of a lie when it has
had sufficient time to breed them. At pres-
ent it seems alittle immature, — lacking even
pin feathers to hide its nakedness.
Mr. Linn made the mistake, moreover, of
relying upon the affidavits of the perjured
witnesses quoted by Howe. He should have
engaged Hurlbut to get up some new affi-
led The Mormon Point of View.
there was no Spaulding's story for Rigdon
to steal and doctor up) — I might dismiss at
once all the correlative rubbish with which
Linn seeks to make his new theory plausi-
ble.
But I perceive that, driven from this
mooring, writers of the Linn type will not
be long, — with a million readers ready to
gulp down any invention whatsoever against
the Mormons, — in shifting to a position like
this : Sidney Rigdon being of a deeply re-
ligious turn of mind, and a clever writer*
moreover, took his hint from Spaulding,
and produced the Book of Mormon entire;
palming it off on the world through Joseph
Smith, in order the more effectually to es-
tablish a new religion. This is really in ef-
fect what Linn claims was done; for to in-
ject into any hypothetical Spaulding story
the religious coloring of the Book of Mor-
mon, would involve the rewriting of the
story in toto. Let us see how the theory
works out.
•Which, however, he was not, by any
means, if we may judge by the fragments of
composition he has left behind. Linn publishes
a letter from him dated May 25, 1873, which has
a number of errors in syntax and spelling, and
which closes with this curious error in diction:
"I struggle along in poverty to which I am con-
signed." [resigned.]
The Dictionary of Slander. 169
170 The Mormon Point of View.
R1GDON AND THE BOOK OF MORMON.
In 1828, so we are informed by Mr. Linn,
an important church discussion took place
between Sidney Rigdon and Alexander
Campbell at Warren, Ohio ; "Rigdon having
sprung on the meeting an argument in favor
of a community of goods," like that prevail-
ing among the ancient saints, and Campbell
combatting the idea and winning the audi-
ence over to his way of thinking. On his
way home Rigdon is quoted as saying to a
brother: "I have done as much in this
reformation as Campbell or Scott, and yet
they get all the honor of it."
"In this jealousy of the Campbells," con-
tinues Linn, "and in the discomfiture as a
leader which he received at their hands, we
find a sufficient object for Rigdon's deser-
tion of his old church associations and desire
to build up something, the discovery of
which he could claim, and the government
of which he could control."
That is to say, the motive which is to
make him steal Spaulding's manuscript, in-
ject into it the tenets of the Disciple theol-
ogy, cozen Joseph Smith into acting the part
of prophet of the new dispensation, etc., etc.,
arose in pique over being worsted in an
The Dictionary of Slander. 171
printing office and laid it by, — shrewd man
that he was !
Here is a sample of how Linn proves ( !)
this latter fact: "Mrs. Ellen E. Dickenson
in a report of a talk with General and Mrs.
Garfield on the subject, at Mentor, Ohio, in
1880, [64 years after the alleged theft] re-
ports Mrs. Garfield as saying 'that her fath-
er told her that Rigdon in his youth lived in
that neighborhod, and made mysterious vis-
its to Pittsburg !"
He said that Mrs. G. said that her father
said that — ! How far can you carry water
in a sieve of that kind? Here, is another:
"Dr. Winter's daughter wrote to Robert
Patterson on April 5, 1881 [65 years after
the alleged theft] : 'I have frequently heard
my father speak of Rigdon having Spaul-
ding's manuscript, and that he had gotten it
from the printer's to read as a cruiosity ; as
such he showed it to father, and at that time
Rigdon had no intention of making the use
of it he afterward did." Dr. Winter's daugh-
ter is evidently mistaken ; the idea must
really have been lurking in his bones. Why
else should his visits to Pittsburg have been
"mysterious?" True, Rigdon is not a minis-
ter yet for three years ; Campbell, who is
to rob him of glory in a debate twelve years
argument! And that, too, in a fold not his
own ; for by Linn's own statement, Rigdon
continued preaching in the Disciples' church
at Mentor and Kirtland for two more years,
and actually organized churches on the plan
of owning things in common. Moreover, Mr.
Hayden, historian of the Disciples' church,
says of him during these years : "The uni-
formity of his life, his undeviating devotion,
his high and consistent manliness and super-
iority of judgment, gave him an undisputed
pre-eminence in the church."
But in order to get a start, let us grant
the motive for appropriating Spaulding's
story and inveigling Joseph Smith from
money digging and the low vagabond life,
which Linn says he was leading, into setting
up for prophet, while he, Rigdon, furnished
the brains ! His first difficulty is to get pos-
session of Spaulding's story. Spaulding has
been dead twelve years, and he must now
reach back further than that to get hold of
it. Alas, for lost opportunities !
Linn gets past this difficulty by assuming
that he has it already in his possession.
Like a crutch, this precious manuscript was
a handy thing to have in the house in an
emergency and so Rigdon copied it some
fourteen years previously in Patterson's
172 The Mormon Point of View.
later, is barely over from Scotland, but not
yet cut loose from Presbyterianism ; and
"Joe" Smith is probably "sprouting" on his
father's clearing in Vermont. Still, the fact
that he made "mysterious" visits to Pitts-
burg is full of significance !
Was ever giddy rot like this stuffed down
the gullets of gudgeons before? Why
should Sidney Rigdon, a farmer's boy, be a
"hanger-on" round a printing press in a
remote city ? Why should he go there mys-
teriously ? It is not claimed that he stole the
original manuscript. Spaulding left that
with his widow safely locked up in a trunk.
If it was at the printer's he must have un-
derstood that it was there to be printed.
Why then should he copy it, knowing he
could buy it soon in book form? If it was
the crude, shallow manuscript that has since
turned up — and there is no evidence that
Spaulding ever wrote any other — what lu-
nacy could be supposed in him to steal it?
And if he stole it, point out one name, one
phrase, one incident of it in the Book of
Mormon today !
It will be remembered that Mr. Linn in his
preface posed as the judicial historian.
What sharp-nosed old granny in poke-bon-
net and spectacles is it then that is here col-
The Dictionary of Slander. 113
lecting the veriest hearsay gossip of the
second and third generation removed, to
sustain his desperate point?
It would be a pity, however, not to see
what he can make of it, so let us grant that
Spaulding wrote another story and that
Rigdon, in his mysterious visits, copied it in
1816, and had it by him when, in 1828, he
was worsted by Campbell and resolved to
get even by setting up a rival religion.
It is not contended that Rigdon began
doctoring Spaulding's manuscript till after
this tilt with Campbell in 1828 — there would
have been no motive for it. After that, it
must have taken time — months at least — to
recast the secular story so as to saturate it
with Disciple theology — and this theology,
it must be remembered, is one of the strong
reasons put forward by Linn for Rigdon's
authorship. But Joseph Smith claims to
have received the Gold Plates from the An-
gel on September 22, 1827, and to have cop-
ied and translated some of the characters in
December; while Martin Harris actually
made his memorable visit to Prof. Anthon
with them the following February.
"Mr. Harris returned to my house about
the 12th of April, 1828," writes Joseph
Smith, "and commenced writing for me
The Dictionary of Slander. 175
the living room of his home. It is impossi-
ble that his wife and four children, one of
whom was ten years old, should not have
been privy to the secret, and every visitor
to the house would have guessed it ; so that
when he deserted the Campbellite fold, the
truth would have been disclosed and pub-
lished far and wide.
But no such evidence can be found. Linn
quotes two hearsay testimonies, years after
the event, that Rigdon knew the Book of
Mormon was coming forth ; but any one liv-
ing where he did might have known that,
for it was no secret that Joseph had received
the Plates and was translating them. Again
he quotes Rigdon as having said in 1830
that "it was time for a new religion to
spring up." He probably referred to Camp-
bellism, which was not so definitely estab-
lished as to be an old religion.
No matter how this theory is turned over,
it fails to hold water. Look at these incon-
sistencies, for instance: Rigdon chafes at
second place under Campbell, a noted re-
ligious philosopher, yet voluntarily chooses
second place under a "disreputable money-
digger" (sic, Linn) and his own cat's paw;
he quarrels with Campbell over the church
holding things in common and is allowed
174 The Mormon Point of View.
while I translated from the Plates, which
we continued until the 14th of June follow-
ing, by which time we had written one hun-
dred and sixteen pages of manuscript, on
foolscap paper." Hardly time, — was there?
— for Rigdon to round up his plot and get
it into the harness!
But difficulties increase the moment you
attempt to conceive Rigdon's part in getting
out the Book of Mormon. Is it thinkable
that he could have had this manuscript by
him, with no obligation to secrecy, for
twelve years, yet no one of his flock or fel-
low ministers ever see it ? Could he now set
about the tremendous work of reshaping or
rewriting or composing outright, if you will,
the 350,000 words of the Book of Mormon,
and go on smoothly with his pastoral work in
two or three towns at the same time, and
yet none of his intimates be aware of it?
Unaccustomed to literary effort, he would
be a long time getting into working shape,
but allowing an average of 2,000 words a
day, — a heavy record even for a facile writer,
— it would take over six months of week-
days without a break, to complete the task.
Where could he have hidden the secret of
his work during that time? Being a poor
man he would necessarily have to write in
176 The Mormon Point of View.
to have his way in his own congregations,
yet he now goes over to a new religion
which does not recognize this pet innova-
tion; with the Disciples he is counted a
great man and receives a salary, yet he takes
up with Mormonism at a sacrifice of that
salary, and under the penalty of ostracism—^
all for pique ! Talk about Mormon credu-
lity ! Who is doing the alligator act here ?
Thus far I have dealt only with Mr.
Linn's own facts, and they have proved so
utterly inadequate to support his theory,
that I might well rest my case without con-
sidering the evidence on the Mormon side at
all. For have we not seen that from four
successive dilemmas, anyone of which would
prove fatal to his theory, Mr. Linn was
permitted to escape, just to give his reason-
ing a chance to be aired? Only to see him
treed at last by the fact that he brings in
his puppet one year too late with copy !
RIGDON'S TRUE PLACE IN MORMONISM.
Listen now to the simple, unimpeachable
facts in the career of Sidney Rigdon : Born
February 19, 1793, of parents whose fore-
fathers, three generations previously, came
from Great; Britain, he passed his youth and
The Dictionary of Slander. 177
earlv manhood on his father's farm at St.
Clair township, Alleghany county, Pennsyl-
vania. In his twenty-fifth year he joined
the "Regular Baptists," and the next year
(March, 1819) left the farm and made his
home with the Rev. Andrew Clark, Baptist
minister at Pittsburg — too late by three
years to meet Spaulding. Here he took out
his minister's license, and in May following
moved to Trumbull county, Ohio, where he
met Phebe Brook, to whom he was married
June 12, 1820.
Having in the meanwhile attained to some
celebrity as a preacher, he received a call
from the Baptist society of Pittsburg, and
became their regular minister in February,
1822. But misgivings began to arise as to
many tenets held by this sect — especially as
to the baptism of infants — which led him
to retire from the ministry in August, 1824,
and take up the tanning business in connec-
tion with his brother-in-law, Richard Brook.
During the two years that he worked at
this trade, he often met and conversed with
Alexander Campbell and Walter Scott, min-
isters also dissatisfied with their creeds. The
result was eventually the founding, in 1827,
of a new society, the "Disciples of Christ,"
%he Dictionary of Slander. 170
don's alleged authorship of the Book of
Mormon, and mastership in the founding of
Mormonism.
Rigdon's conversion was on this wise:
Four Elders — Parley P. Pratt, Oliver Cow-
dery, Peter Whitmer, Jr., and Ziba Peter-
son — had been called on a mission to carry
the Book of Mormon to the Lamanites, that
is, to the American Indians, descendants of
the Lamanites. They first called on a tribe
near Buffalo. Their route next brought
them into the very heart of the region where
Campbellism had taken so strong a foot-
hold since its organization three years pre-
vious. Says the Prophet Joseph Smith in
his Autobiography:
"The first house at which they called In the
vicinity of Kirtland was Mr. Rigdon's; and
after the usual salutations, they presented him
with the Book of Mormon, stating that it was a
revelation from God. This being the first time
he had ever heard of or seen the Book of Mor-
mon, he felt very much surprised at the asser-
tion, and replied that he had the Bible, which
he believed was a revelation from God, and
with which he pretended to have some ac-
quaintance; but with respect to the book they
had presented him, he must say that he had
considerable doubt. Upon this they expressed
a desire to investigate the subject, and argue
the matter. But he replied, 'No, young gentle-
men, you must not argue with me on the sub-
ject; but I will read your book and see what
178 The Mormon Point of View.
whose professed rule of faith was a return
to the simple doctrines of Christ as set forth
in Scripture, — faith in God, repentance of
sins, baptism by immersion for the remission
of sins, holiness of life, a godly walk and
conversation, — untrammeled by credal inter-
pretation. Rigdon began preaching the new
doctrines in 1826, and was so successful that
he soon had large followings in Mentor,
Bainbridge, Kirtland, and many of the sur-
rounding townships.
It was here, at Mentor, four years later,
while in the zenith of his popularity and in
full fellowship with Campbell — Linn to the
contrary* — that Mormonism found and
claimed him. That is to say, it was late in
the fall of 1830, nine months after the Book
of Mormon was printed, and six or seven
months after the Church had been organ-
ized, and when the membership had grown
to about ninety souls. So much for Rig-
•The remark attributed by Linn to Rigdon
after the Warren controversy, as well as the
fact of the controversy itself, is substantiated
by no authority save Linn, and is therefore in
all probability a gratuitous invention for the
sake of getting up a case. But if you suppose
it to be a real expression, it counts only for on»
of those straws of vexation with his brother
which float in the current of every minister's
life. There is no proof that there were any but
amicable feelings between Rigdon and Camp-
bell till after the former accepted Mormonism.
180 The Mormon Point of View.
claims it has upon my faith, and will endeavor
to ascertain whether it be a revelation from God
or not.' "
That evening they held a. meeting in the
Disciples' chapel. Rigdon was deeply im-
pressed, as were also a great number of
his congregation. "The information they
had received that evening was of an extra-
ordinary character," said Rigdon in conclu-
sion, "and certainly demanded their most
serious consideration. As the apostle ad-
vised his brethren to 'prove all things, and
hold fast that which was good,' so he would
exhort his brethren to do likewise . . .
lest they should possibly resist the truth."
For two weeks the Elders continued their
labors among the Disciples, and whenever
they dropped in on Sidney Rigdon, "they
found him very earnestly reading the Book
of Mormon — praying to the Lord for direc-
tion, and meditating on the things he heard
and read." There happened consequently
what always happens — what the Book of
Mormon promises shall happen * to him
•"Behold I would exhort you that when ye
shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God
that ye should read them, that .... ye would
ask God, the eternal Father, in the name of
Christ, if these things are not true; and If ye
shall ask with a sincere heart, with real Intent,
having faith in Christ, he will manifest the
truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy
Ghost." Moroni, 10: 2-3.
The Dictionary of Slander. 18 J
182 The Mormon Point of View.
who seeks the truth of Mormonism with
undivided soul: he received a testimony
direct from God, so that he could exclaim
with Peter: "Flesh and blood hath not re-
vealed it unto me but my Father which is
in heaven."
The immediate consequence was, that
Rigdon recognized himself as without divine
authority; and so both he and his wife were
baptized into the church, — perhaps in the
early part of December, "In two or three
weeks from our arrival in the neighbor-
hood," writes Elder Pratt, "we had baptized
one hundred and twenty-seven souls ; and
this number [under the ministry of Sidney
Rigdon, John Murdock, Isaac Morley, Ly-
man Wight, and Edward Partridge, whom
the Elders ordained to carry on the work]
soon increased to one thousand."
To the reader who is reluctant to believe
that Rigdon's conversion was by a divine
testimony, there are certain predisposing
circumstances which may vet show that it
was honest and genuine, and not feigned for
purposes of rascality, as Linn intimates. In
the first place, the man who brought the
message was a dear friend and confidant.
Parley P. Pratt had been sometime a pupil,
then a convert, then a fellow-minister in the
The Dictionary of Slander. 183
short, swallowed up the truths of Campbell-
ism as the ocean does the river. Rigdon
saw all this with the eye of faith, and it con-
firmed his testimony ; Campbell saw it with
the eye of distrust and hatred, and so it
served only to embitter him the more.*
As final disproof of Rigdon's authorship
of the Book of Mormon, I present herewith
passages from a manuscript "Life of Sidney
Rigdon," written by his son, John W. Rig-
don, and quoted by Roberts in his new His-
tory of the Church. The reader should first
be informed that Rigdon, failing in his am-
bition to be President of the Church after
the Prophet's death, withdrew from the
body of the Saints on their exodus to the
Rocky mountains, tried to build up the
church anew at Pittsburg, and, failing, re-
tired to Friendship, Alleghany county,
New York, where he died in 1876.
•In his "Delusions: an Aanlysis of the Book
of Mormon," Campbell says: "He [the author]
decides all the great controversies: infant bap-
tism, the Trinity, regeneration, repentance, Jus-
tification, the fall of man, the atonement, tran-
substantiatlon, fasting, penance, church gov-
ernment, the call to the ministry, the general
resurrection, eternal punishments, who may
baptize, and even the questions of Free mason-
ry, republican government, and the rights of
man." In the item of Free masonry, Mr. Camp-
bell's hate spills over a little. For the rest, the
list is pretty accurate, but by no means com-
plete.
Reformed Baptist society, under Rigdon.
His words would consequently have peculiar
weight.
In the next place, Rigdon had cut loose
from sects and creeds, and was ardently
contending for the "faith once delivered to
the Saints." To him the idea of new revela-
tion would, in consequence, be quite in keep-
ing with the spirit of the scriptures. Why
should not man in this day enjoy commun-
ion with God by heavenly messengers as did
the ancient saints? And when we remem-
ber that his conscientiousness compelled him
to retire from the ministry in 1824, until
such time as he had greater light, it is easy
to understand how his heart at once became
friendly, and his intellect gave unbiased
consideration to the new message.
There was lastly the striking — though very
natural — fact that Mormonism offered no
essential clash with the elementary tenets of
Campbellism. It was not that the Book of
Mormon merely paralleled the doctrines
which Rigdon, Scott, and Campbell had so
admirably drawn from the New Testament:
it illumined them, made clear and definite
what the Bible left vague, bridged scriptural
contradictories, gave infinite perspective to
what was fragmentary and disjointed, — in
184 The Mormon Point of View.
John W. Rigdon visited Utah in 1863 with
a view to studying Mormonism. He was
not favorably impressed, and among other
things, came to the conclusion that the Book
of Mormon itself was a fraud. According-
ly, he determined, on returning home, to
sift thoroughly his father's alleged part in
getting it up.
"You have been charged with writing that
book and giving it to Joseph Smith to intro-
duce to the world. You have always told me
one story Is this true? If so, all
right, if not you owe it to me and to your family
to tell it. You are an old man and will soon
pass away, and I wish to know if Joseph Smith
in your intimacy with him for fourteen years,
has not said something to you to lead you to
believe that he obtained that book in some
other way than what he had told you. . . .
My father looked at me a moment, raised his
hand above his head and slowly said, with tears
glistening in his eyes: 'My son, I can swear be-
fore high heaven, that what I have told you
about the origin of that book Is true. Your
mother and sister, Mrs. Athalia Robinson, were
present when that book was handed to me in
Mentor, Ohio, and all I ever knew about that
book was what Parley P. Pratt, Oliver Cow-
dery, Joseph Smith and the witnesses told me;
and in all my intimacy with Joseph Smith, he
never told me but the one story . . . and I
have never, to you or to any one else, told but
the one story, and that I repeat to you.' I be-
lieved him, and still believe he told me the
truth."
The Dictionary of Slander. 185
Mr. Rigdon also gives testimony from
his mother, just previous to her death, cor-
roborating that of his father, and an affida-
vit of his sister, Mrs. Athalia Robinson, who
was ten years old at the time Rigdon joined
the Church, and who testifies to the visit of
the Elders and of Parley P. Pratt's handing
her father a copy of the Book of Mormon,
saying it was a revelation from God. There
seems to be really no grounds whatever for
connecting Rigdon with the Book of Mor-
mon, save the desperate need of anti-Mor-
mons to account for it somehow in conso-
nance with a fixed notion that Mormonism
is a false religion. Needless to say, they are
doomed to failure by the Rigdon hypothesis.
In the meanwhile, the Book of Mormon is
still here, and the field is open for new ro-
mancers to try their hand.
CHARACTER OF THE WITNESSES.*
In seeking to vitiate the testimony of the
witnesses to the Book of Mormon, Mr. Linn
•The witnesses to the Gold Plates were as
follows: (1) the three special witnesses to
whom the angel showed them, — Oliver Cowdery,
David Whitmer, Martin Harris; (2) the eight
witnesses to whom Joseph Smith showed them,
—Christian, Jacob, Peter, and John Whitmer,
Joseph Smith, Sen., Hyrum Smith, and Samuel
H. Smith; (3) the Prophet, his mother, and Mrs.
Whitmer, which last I include on the testimony
of her son David.
The Dictionary of Slander. 187
Linn finds among the early inventions at-
tributed to Joseph Smith. He quotes from
a letter written by Hiel and Joseph Lewis of
Harmony in 1879, fifty years after the event,
to James T. Cobb of Salt Lake City.
"This statement, in effect, was that he
[Joseph] dreamed of an iron box containing
gold plates curiously engraved which he must
translate into a book; that twice when he at-
tempted to secure the plates he was knocked
down, and when he asked why he could not
have them, 'he saw a man standing over the
spot who, to him, appeared like a Spaniard,
having a long beard down over his breast with
his throat cut from ear to ear and the blood
streaming down, who told him that he could
not get it alone.' He then narrated how he got
the box in company with Emma. 'In all this
narrative there was not one word about visions
of God, or of angels, or heavenly revelations;
all his information was by that dream and that
bleeding ghost. The heavenly visions and mes-
sages of angels, etc., contained in the Mormon
books were after-thoughts, revised to order."
Mr. Linn actually credits this story, as
will be indicated by the following comment :
"We may now contrast these early ac-
counts of the disclosure with the version given
in the Prophet's autobiography (written, be it
remembered, In Nauvoo in 1838), the one ac-
cepted by all orthodox Mormons. One of its
striking features will be found to be the trans-
formation of the Spaniard — with-his-throat-cut
Into a messenger from heaven."
That is to say, Mr. Linn would have the
reader believe that not until Sidney Rigdon
came into the Church to shape and unify its
teachings, did the story of the Book of Mor-
186 The Mormon Point of View.
seems guided occasionally more by hate than
by craftiness. Instead of discriminating
with the judgment of a lawyer, in his choice
of slander, throwing out that which mani-
festly defeats itself, he lays it all on, no mat-
ter how or by whom it is brought. His
question is not : Is this effective mud ? only :
Is it mud?
Five of the fourteen witnesses who beheld
the Plates were directly of the Smith fam-
ily ; viz., the Prophet, his father and mother,
and his brothers Hyrum and Samuel. In
order to discredit these, Linn prepared the
way, as we have seen, by quoting liberally
from the slanders which Hurlbut the apos-
tate gathered against the whole family, and
which Howe published and fathered; slan-
ders of which, aside from their disproof in
the first number of this magazine, it is suffi-
cient to say that Hurlbut collected them.
Against the Prophet himself Linn brings
stories which, to say the least, discredits his
judgment as a historian.
No particular is more common, for in-
stance, in the fabulous accounts of treasure
buried by the buccaneers, than that it is
guarded by bloody wraith or ghost of sailor
murdered for that purpose. This very
cheap and conventional explanation, Mr.
188 The Mormon Point of View.
mon take its present form. It is in such
suggestions that Linn shows the weakness
of pure malevolence. Could the Prophet's
parents and brothers and sisters and the
Whitmers have been made to give up Pres-
byterianism and join the new Church, with
such a tale? There were at least ninety
souls baptized before Sidney Rigdon came
into the Church. Were these converted by
a "bloody ghost" story? The simple fact
is that from the date of his first vision in
1820, and continuously thereafter, the
Prophet told one consistent, undeviating
story — a fact which contemporaneous rec-
ords abundantly prove. Under no other
circumstances could he have made converts
Qf people intimately acquainted with all the
secrets of his life. Another example of the
depths of fatuity into which hate led this
judicial ( !) historian is a reproduction of the
following affidavit from the Hurlbut-Howe
collection. Comment is unnecessary:
"One day he came and greeted me with Joy-
ful countenance [so one Ingersoll is made to
sayj. Upon asking the cause of his unusual
happiness, he replied In the following language:
'As I was passing yesterday across the woods,
after a heavy shower of rain, I found in a hol-
low some beautiful white sand that had been
washed up by the water. I took off my frock
and tied up several quarts of It, and then went
home. At that moment I happened to think
about a history found in Canada, called a
The Dictionary of Slander. 189
Golden Bible; so I very gravely told them It
was the Golden Bible. To my surprise they
were credulous enough to believe what I said.
Accordingly I told them I had received a com-
mandment to let no one see it, (or, says I, no
man can see it with the natural eye and live.
However, I offered to take out the book and
show it to them, but they refused to see it and
left the room. Now,' said Joe, 'I've got the
d — d fools fixed, and will carry out the fun.' "
Respecting the witnesses to whom the
Angel Moroni showed the Plates, Mr. Linn
has this to say: "Surely if any three men
in the Church should remain steadfast,
mighty pillars of support for the Prophet in
his future troubles, it should be these chosen
witnesses to the actual existence of the
Golden Plates. Yet every one of them be-
came an apostate, and every one of them
was loaded with all the opprobrium that the
Church could pile upon him."
Yet had they remained faithful to the
Church, what would have been Mr. Linn's
comment? Would he not have said: "Of
course ; could you expect anything else from
men who consented to remain the tools of
an unscrupulous hierarchy? These men
have everything to gain and nothing to lose
by maintaining their false testimony!"
Clearly, so far as the existence of the Plates
is concerned, the evidence could not be
made stronger than by their turning away
from the Church and still remaining true, as
190 The Mormon Point of View.
they did, to their testimony. The tempta-
tion to injure the Church by recanting, must,
at a certain period in the life of each, have
been very strong; yet the conviction that
they had actually seen and handled the
plates remained stronger still.*
Let us now look into the source of this
undeviating conviction. Our first enquiry
is in relation to what made it so strong.
After receiving the Plates, September 22,
1827, Joseph Smith, was compelled to leave
Manchester, New York, on account of re-
peated attempts to steal them, — Martin Har-
ris having given him fifty dollars by the as-
sistance of which he reached Harmony,
Pennsylvania. Here in December he copied
and translated some of the characters, which
Mr. Harris in February, 1828, took to Pro-
fessor Anthon in New Yoik. The necessity
of making a living prevented the Prophet
•Linn's efforts at breaking down their tes-
timony is rather lame. He cites a violent tirade
against Oliver Cowdery's wickedness by Sid-
ney Rigdon, and the fact that Martin Harris is
called a "wicked man" In one of the revelations.
Against David Whitmer, he can find nothing;
though he might have quoted the testimony of
twenty-one leading citizens of Richmond. Mo.,
most of them civil officers, that he was a "man
of the highest" Integrity, and of undoubted truth
and veracity." Harris and Cowdery repented
of the vanity and rashness which led them out
of the Church, and in deepest humility came
back to the fold before their death.
The Dictionary of Slander. 191
from doing more, until April 12, when the
work of translation began in earnest, and
lasted till June 14, Harris acting as scribe.
The result was one hundred and sixteen
pages of foolscap manuscript, which Martin
was permitted to take home as a means of
convincing his wife, and which was stolen
from him, and never recovered.
Through sheer need of having to work
for bread, and also because of being with-
out a scribe, Joseph did not resume the
translation till April 5, 1829, when Oliver
Cowdery became his scribe. The work con-
tinued under this arrangement till the fol-
lowing June, Joseph dictating, and Oliver
recording. The timely arrival, at this stage,
of David Whitmer, generously offering to
board and lodge them at his father's home in
Fayette, N. Y., while the work was going
on, prevented another lay off, and so the
translation was completed by the beginning
of July, 1829.
"I, as well as all of my father's family.'*
writes an interviewer of David Whitmer in the
Kansas City Journal, June 5, 1881, "Smith's
wife, Oliver Cowdery, and Martin Harris were
present during the translation. The transla-
tion was by Smith and the manner was as fol-
lows: He had two small stones of a chocolate
color, nearly egg-shape, and perfectly smooth,
but not transparent, called interpreters, which
were given him with the plates. He did not use
the plates in the translation, but would hold the
192 The Mormon Point of View.
interpreters to his eyes, and cover his face with
a hat, excluding all light, and before his eyes
would appear what seemed to be parchment,
on which would appear the characters of the
plates in a line at the top and immediately be-
low would appear the translation in English,
which Smith would read to his scribe, who
wrote it down as it fell from his lips. The
scribe would then read the sentence written
and If any mistake had been made, the charac-
ters would remain visible to Smith until cor-
rected, when they faded from sight to be re-
placed by another line"*
Consider now the bearing of the facts be-
fore us. Here were nine of the fourteen
witnesses — eight beside the prophet ; viz, the
five Whitmer boys, their mother, Martin
Harris, and Oliver Cowdery, — listening day
after day, for a month, to the story of the
Book of Mormon as it grew under the dic-
tation of a young man with his face buried
in a hat. Talk about Rigdon or any one
else furnishing the manuscript! There was
absolutely no room here for chicanery. Jo-
seph Smith either composed the Book of
Mormon out-right, or it was revealed to him,
•Joseph Smith has not, to my knowledge,
loft any explanation of the modus operandi of
translating. The above must therefore be taken
with the usual allowance for the personal equa-
tion of the reporter, — especially in that detail
about the parchment with its double series of
characters. Martin Harris confirms the report
In part: "By aid of the seer stone [the Prophet
seems to have used the seer stone and the Urim
and Thummim interchangeably], sentences
would appear .... and if correctly written.
would disapepar if not It would re-
muin until corrected."
The Dictionary of Slander.
193
194 The Mormon Point of View.
sentence by sentence, as he says. Cowdery
and Harris had each sat listening and writ-
ing for three months under similar circum-
stances. How could experience be more
exacting. — more likely to produce a con-
viction which nothing afterward in life
could efface?
The only question now was the actual see-
ing of the Plates — the original of that which
they had listened to for months. "It was
in June, 1829, the latter part of the month,"
says David Whitmer, referring to the time
when the three witnesses saw the Plates,
"and the eight witnesses saw them the next
day or the day afterward. Joseph showed
them the plates himself, but the Angel
showed us [the three witnesses] the plates,
as I suppose to fulfil the words of the book
itself. Martin Harris was not with us at
this time ; he obtained a view of them after-
wards, the same day."
"Joseph, Oliver and myself," continues David
Whitmer, "were together when I saw them.
We not only saw the plates of the Book of Mor-
mon, but also the brass plates, the plates of the
Book of Ether, the plates containing the records
of the wickedness and the secret combinations
of the people of the world down to the time of
their being engraved, and many other plates.
The fact is, it was Just as though Joseph, Oli-
ver and I were sitting Just here on a log, when
we were overshadowed by a light. It was not
like the light of the sun, nor like that of a fire,
but more beautiful. It extended away around
The Dictionary of Slander. 195
ness to the truth of what I have said, for now
they know for themselves that I do not go
about to deceive the people, and I feel as if I
was relieved of a burden which was almost too
heavy for nr; to bear, and it rejoices my soul
that I am not any longer to be entirely alone in
the world.' Upon this Martin Harris came In.
He seemed almost overcome with Joy, and testi-
fied boldly to what he had both seen and heard.
And so did David and Oliver, adding that no
tongue could express the Joy of their hearts
and the greatness of the things which they had
both seen and heard."
The attempt to show that the witnesses
could be mistaken fails from the simple na-
ture, and the long-continued observation, of
the facts involved; the attempt to break
down their veracity is equally futile; they
were honest men, though subject to temp-
tations and sin like other mortals. Account
for them as you may, the facts concerning
the coming forth of the Book of Mormon
are still there, and the world must face them
squarely ; for they can neither be ignored
nor explained away.
"In an historical inquiry of this kind,"
remarks Linn, when confronted with the
meager and contradictorv data to support
his theory of Rigdon's authorship of the
Book of Mormon, "it is more important to
establish the fact that a certain thing was
done than to prove just how or when it was
done." If this maxim holds water for Linn,
it ought also to do so for me. The thing
us, I cannot tell how far, but In the midst of
this light about as far off as he sits, (pointing
to John C. Whitmer sitting a few feet from
him), there appeared, as it were, a table with
many records or plates upon It, besides the
plates of the Book of Mormon, also the sword
of Laban, the directors (1. e. the ball which
Lehi had) and the interpreters. I saw them just
as plainly as I see this bed (striking the bed
beside him with his hand), and I heard the
voice of the Lord, as distinctly as I have ever
heard anything in my life, declaring that the
records of the plates were translated by the
gift and power of God."
Reverting, then, to my purpose in recit-
ing these facts, I may remark that the events
observed by the Three Witnesses, from the
inception of the translation to the culmina-
tion set forth in the above extract, were so
palpable, that they could neither deny nor
forget them. It remained only that they
be honest men to account for their undeviat-
ing testimony, even when they themselves
fell from grace. As evidence corroborative
of the story told by the Three Witnesses, I
quote the recollections of Lucy Smith,
mother of the Prophet, respecting the oc-
currences of that remarkable day.
"When they [the witnesses] returned to the
house, it was between three and four o'clock p.
m. Mrs. Whitmer, Mr. Smith and myself were
sitting in the bed room at the time. On coming
in, Joseph threw himself down beside me, and
exclaimed: 'Father, mother, you do not know
how happy I am; the Lord has caused the
Plates to be shown to three more besides my-
self. They have seen an angel, who has testi-
fied to them, and they will have to bear wlt-
196 The Mormon Point of View.
here absolutely established as "done," was
the dictation of the Book of Mormon by
Joseph Smith, the while his eyes were cov-
ered in the darkness of a hat. The "when"
is equally established beyond controversy.
The "how" admits of the alternatives I
have pointed out. Either Joseph Smith re-
cited from memory or invented outright the
350,000 words composing the record, or he
received assistance from some supernatural
source.
The memorizing hypothesis may be dis-
missed at once; for if we could suppose
such a feat possible for a raw, unlettered
youth, there would yet be the problem of
escaping detection while in the act of coach-
ing himself, with a score of sceptical eyes
watching his every movement. As to his
invention of the book, no one who has read
it will hold that view a moment. The diffi-
culty was no whit less than would be the
invention of the Bible outright ; and so that
hypothesis also may be laid down. There
remains then only the last alternative: the
Book of Mormon was revealed to him. The
positive evidence of this fact I have set
forth in part; the difficulties in the way of
accepting it, are considered in the leading
article of this number.
THcr&sg:
m°»
A Quarterly Magazine, owned ami edited by .V. L. Xelson.
Professor of English, Urigham Young Unnerxily. Price.
$l.ub a year; tingle copies. We. Entered in the Postoffice at
Provo City, Utah, as second-class matter.
Vol. I.
Provo City, Utah, July 1, IP04.
No. a,
"LEARN TO READ UP HILL"
A favorite piece of advice by President
Brimhall to students who desire to know how
best to continue the intellectual life after
they leave school, is that which I have made
the caption of this short article. "Read up-
hill, young man, if you want to keep grow-
ing."
Of course the young man ponders often
and deeply before he fathoms the full sig-
nificance of this peculiarly forceful meta-
phor. Read up-hill, — that is something he
cannot do, if he read only the newspaper.
At best he is reading along the dead level,
with many a moral slough and social quag-
mire to cross. He gains nothing in mental
vigor, because there are no mental lifts for
him to make ; or if there are, they bore him,
such is the vitiating tendency of skimming
for mere surface interest, and of moving
from point to point, butterfly-like, before the
mind has time to get down to underlying
principles.
It) 3 The Mormon Point of View.
Nor are the contents of a newspaper to be
swallowed entire, any more than the wares
in a green grocer's market. They are to be
selected, prepared, served to taste, chewed,
and digested, if they are to build up the
intellectual life. The man who feeds indis-
criminately on the columns of a daily paper
is the man who throws down the gates of
'"his individuality and makes of his mind a
•common road for all the moving things of
earth. His only reward, if reward it can
be called, is to stand passively by gaping
at the motley procession, while it tramps
into the ground the choice private gardens
of his soul.
"Read up-hill, young man." This no man
can do, if every new accession to his library
be a novel. Barring a few great works of
fiction which are analytical studies of the
soul, it is safe to say that reading novels is
reading down-hill ; it is a relaxing of mental
tension, without which there can be no
growth of mind-power, and sliding down
the incline of morbid sentiment to shadowy
plains of unreality where even feeling itself
becomes colorless.
The habitual novel-reader is a mental
dyspeptic, whose appetite is tempted only
"by literary caramels and strongly seasoned
-newspaper hash. There is really no easier
way to get into the comfortable circle of
mental mediocrity than to become a devotee
«f popular fiction. No ambition disturbs
you, save the desire to shine in parlor par-
" Learn to Read Up-Hill." 199
ties, and you acquire a mental calibre best
described as the "smooth bore'' a calibre
well fitted for bird shot and other small
ideas of that kind, which may be fired with-
out accuracy of aim, and mainly for the
noise and smoke.
The school that does not engraft the
habit of reading up-hill has failed to reach
the inner life of the student ; failed to create
that "hunger and thirst after righteousness,"
— that insatiable craving to fathom the
meaning and trend of life — which is ever a
prerequisite to being "blessed." On the
other hand, he in whom this hunger and
thirst have been created, has little further
need of the school: books are his college,
and the world itself his university. No
fear that library trash will detain him; for
reading on the dead level bores him, while
reading down-hill nauseates. His pleasure
consists in the effort necessary to climb,
quite as much as in the exhilaration which
always follows from looking at life from
a higher point of view.
And he shall be further blessed; for be-
fore him rise the shining heights where
dwell apart the spirits of Shakespeare and
Milton, Paul and the Beloved Disciple — all
the masters of deep thought and classic ex-
pression ; and these he shall associate with,
not in the vulgar fashion which, because
it appreciates little, finds it necessary to
boast much, but in the true communion of
soul with soul, — too sacred a relationship to
200 The Mormon Point of View.
dress up vanity in. Moreover, he shall in
time be blessed with discernment of spirits ;
so that before he shall read a hundred
lines, he shall be able to judge unerringly
whether his author be a thought artist or
merely a literary tailor.
Reading up-hill involves two things : reading
the right kind of books, and reading them in
the proper way. As to the first, this rule may
be set down as infallible: Only such books are
wholesome as tend to help us understand,
appreciate, and react by truth relations
upon, our environments ; all others are
false and pernicious, however charming they
may seem. Let the reader take up book by
book in his library and square its contents
with this principle, — taking care to include
under environments all the real forces,
spiritual or otherwise, which play upon his
soul, — and then agree or disagree with me.
Space compels me to drop the question here.
As to reading in the right way, I shall
touch upon only one aspect, that of making
constant use of a dictionary. Has it ever
occurred to the reader that perfect thought-
communication is possible only where
giver and receiver hold in common, thought
symbols — that is to say, words — of exactly
the same signification? But how rarely is
this the case! And to the extent that our
words have different weight, color, or psy-
chic associations, to that extent we fail to
give or receive the equivalent of other men's
thoughts and ideas.
'Learn to Read Up-HilL'
101
202 The Mormon Point of View.
If now every man and woman had access
to a thought bank, — a sort of clearing
house for thought- symbols, — where his
words could be reweighed and stamped
anew with their just and true signification,
then we should gradually get rid of our
misunderstandings, and come to a delight-
ful sense of intellectual unity. Such a bank
is any good standard dictionary — that
priceless repository of accurate ideas, that
peerless peace-maker among the war of
words. Let the farmer sell his last cow, if
need be, to place this golden key to the
world's treasures of literature, — this un-
erring guide in the world's wilderness of
books —into the hands of his growing son
or daughter.
And let them use it incessantly. The fact
that it is absent in nine-tenths of the
honies of Latter-day Saints* has resulted
in a popular -vocabulary among us, which,
measured by the canons of a pure diction,
must be characterized as slip-shod and
wishy-washy. But the worst fault induced
by its deplorable absence, is the vicious hab-
it of guessing at the meaning of words, or
being content to miss the force of an entire
passage, because it does not yield to the
first mental effort.
• I refer to dictionaries of the type of Webster's In-
ternational. The statement would be true, I believe,
even if I should come down to the next size, the Aca-
demic or Student's dictionary— a most lamentable
faot. Primary school dictionaries are of little worth
la researches above the district school level of Ideas.
Think how our gardens would look, if
they were weeded on this plan ; our parlors,
if they were swept by such a rule; our
farms, if they were cultivated on this
shabby principle! But then, getting vague
and misty meanings to words merely crip-
ples the soul — a worthless appurtenance
compared with those other things, to which
we devote such care and accuracy !
Let me come now directly to .my r.wn
grievance. Word reaches me from various
sources that my magazine is too "deep,"
my ideas expresed in phraseology too
difficult, for the ordinary reader. I grieve
to think that there may be much truth in
this complaint; but I grieve for the "ordin-
ary reader," not for the writer. The latter
I have in hand, and know how it some-
times takes hours and hours of intensest
thought to get even a few short para-
graphs into logical sequence and graphic
form. Then when I look them over, and
see the unusual words here and there, I
think of the 'ordinary reader' and his piti-
ful mental indolence. If I can throw in a
suggestive phrase to help him, I do so,
knowing his reluctance to go to the diction-
ary; but I cannot and will not reduce the
whole thing down to thin soup once more,
to suit his watery mental digestion. I let
it go, in the hope that it may prove a tonic
to his undisciplined mind.
To take an instance in point, read this
sentence from the last number, page 151:
"Learn to Read Up-HilL" 20 JI
"The reader will probably agree with me,
then, that looked at from the human point
of view, the untrammclcd mind of Joseph,
Smith was a better medium for God's pur-
posed iconoclasm, than would have been
the mind of any other man with a hundred
times the mental polish, yet lacking the
necessary plasticity."
Don't imagine that I didn't look twice
at the words I have put in italics, and
measure the distress they were likely ta
occasion in the "ordinary reader." But
there was no help for it. The sentence was
a swift summing up of a course of rea-
soning, and ought to carrv its meaning, if
only by suggestion. Then the thought
came : Perhaps a reader here and there
will go to the dictionary, and how richly
he will be rewarded by the mind-play
which must come to him ; e. g : Iconoclasm :
the breaking of images. Iconoclast: a break-
er or destroyer of images or idols ["Abra-
ham," flashes into the mind] ; a determined
enemv of i-.lol worship. God' ' s purposed icon-
oclasm! "Oh, I see, — the 'stone cut out of
the mountain without hand' tliat shall break
in pieces all the kingdoms of the earth" —
and so on.
All this fine imagery comes by suggestion
to the reader who is determined to fathom
the meaning of words ; and the peculiarity of
the pleasure resulting therefrom, lies in the
fact that the reader recognizes it as hav-
ing been created by his own mind rather
204 The Mormon Point of View.
than by that of the author ; whence the truth
of the aphorism that the real pleasure of
classic literature lies between the lines.
It would be much easier to write so as to
say it all — in the loose, padded style of the
newspaper. The real work of the author lies
in three things; first, the selection of just
those aspects which lend themselves to
unity ; secondly, the compression of his
matter to the smallest compass ; and thirdly,
the choice of such imagery as shall tell by
suggestion all that has been left out.
The compression results in unusual words
and suggestive, though sometimes difficult,
imagery ; as for instance : "Were not all
the Bible prophets, with the single exception
of Paul, of the same type as Joseph Smith?
Men whose greatness lay solely in the fact
that their souls were prisms through which
the white light- of infinite truth was differ-
entiated into the myriad lined duties and ob-
ligations of social life; duties and obliga-
tions the daily reactions from which bring
man nearer to God."
Let the "ordinary reader" spend an hour
working out the remote bearings of this ex-
pression, and begin to feel the joy of think-
ing with his author, — an operation new to
his passive mind, — and he will get some
idea of what it means to read up hill.
206 The Mormon Point of View.
THE SPIRITUAL LIFE.
Christ's merciless test of faith.
What is the meaning of the spiritual life?
How is it engendered ? What are its mani-
festations ? Are the characteristics of the
spiritual life distinct enough for scientific
study? How is the spiritual life related to
the natural life? Are the two forms of life
potentially co-existent? If so, are they re-
ciprocal functions of the great mystery of
life itself, or are they mutually exclusive?
In other words, Can a man remain all that
is implied by the words "natural life" the
while he is Cultivating the life divine ; or
must the natural life wane and die in pro-
portion as the spiritual life attains ascen-
dency? These and a hundred other ques-
tions that will arise as this discussion pro-
ceeds, ought at once to challenge the inter-
est of the reader.
Let us go back to one of the most dra-
matic scenes in the life of our Savior. He
had just fed the multitude, and such had
been the effect of his miraculous multiplica-
tion of the loaves and fishes, that these men
said to one another : "Of a truth this is that
Prophet which should come into the world."
The Spiritual Life.
2(»7
a single subject of that kind. "Seek rather
the meat which endureth to everlasting life."
The spiritual side of their natures had not
yet been awakened. They were still of the
earth, earthy, in all their aspirations.
"What sign shewest thou then that we
may see and believe thee?" they asked him.
"What dost thou work?" Then they re-
minded him that Moses gave their fore-
fathers manna in the desert. The Savior
seizing upon the allusion, told them that
this food ministered only to the physical
appetite, leaving the soul untouched:
"Moses gave you not that bread from heav-
en Your fathers did eat manna in
the wilderness and are dead."
Here then was another type of the natu-
ral life, the life which, like the grasses, to-
day is but tomorrow is not; and once more
does Christ set in contrast with it the life
that is eternal: "Moses gave you not that
bread from heaven; but my Father giveth
you the true bread from heaven
This is the bread which cometh down from
heaven, that a man may eat thereof and
never die."
"Lord," cried they with the eagerness of
new converts, "evermore give us this
bread." But when he put the condition un-
But when Jesus perceived that they were
about to take him by force and proclaim him
king, he departed alone into a mountain.
All that night and the next day the people
sought for him, such was the growing en-
thusiasm to place him on the throne of
David. Who can doubt for a moment, that
had he manifested the least trace of the
demagogue, had he even been passive 'in the
hands of his friends,' the movement would
eventually have swept the whole Jewish na-
tion into a revolt against the Romans? Yet
note now with what a merciless hand he de-
nies himself all this homage, causing his last
adherent to desert him, and even his disci-
ples to hesitate about following him further.
"Ye seek me," said he to the multitude,
next day, "not because ye saw the miracles,
hut because ye did eat of the loaves and were
filled. Labor not for the meat which per-
isheth, but for that meat which endureth un-
to everlasting life."
In these words is found the key to the sit-
uation. The "meat which perisheth" stands
for the natural life with all its ambitions and
achievements. Christ perceived that this
popular uprising had really no other source.
At the same time, he knew that the kingdom
of which he was to be king, had no room -for
208
The Mormon Point of Viczv.
der which they might obtain it, they were
staggered: "I am that bread of life.. . .-
He that cometh to me shall never hunger;
and he that believeth on me shall never
thirst." At this the Jews murmured saying,
"Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose
father and mother we know?" "Murmur
not among yourselves," replied the Savior.
"No man can come unto me except the
Father draw him All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me ; and him
that cometh to me will I in no wise cast out."
What then is the meaning of the ex-
pression, the "Father draw him," and the
"Father giveth him?" Nothing else than
the awakening in man of the spiritual life;
a psychic operation possible only to God.
How many in this vast multitude had thus
been "drawn" or "given" by the divine
hand? All would follow him on the basis
of the natural life ; how many would respond
on the basis of the spiritual? He proceeds
to put the test :
"I am the living bread which came down
from heaven ; if any man eat of this bread
he shall live forever: and the bread that I
will give is my flesh, which I will give for
the life of the world." Up till thisj point
his audience had merely been non-plussed
The Spiritual Life.
209
10 The Mormon Point of View.
by his teachings ; now they strove among
themselves saying, "How can this man give
us his flesh to eat?"
But Christ did not enlighten them: he
merely emphasized the strange doctrine by
repeating, "Verily, verily I say unto you,
except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man
and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him
up at the last day. For my flesh is meat in-
deed and my blood is drink indeed. He that
eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood,
dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the liv-
ing Father hath sent me, and I live by my
Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall
live by me. This is chat bread which came
down from heaven ; not as your fathers did
eat manna and are dead: he that eateth of
this bread shall live forever."
Such was Christ's doctrine of the spiritual
life; such the fearlessness with which he
challenged men's souls. Is it any wonder
that the people slunk away? Even his pro-
fessed disciples said, "This is a hard saying ;
who can hear it? And many from that time
went back and walked no more with him." j
There is something pathetic in the atti-
tude of the twelve. His words had been in-
comprehensible to them and they stood over-
whelmed with doubt. Nevertheless, to the
Savior's questions, "Will ye also go away?"
Simon Peter answered: "Lord, to whom
shall we go? thou hast the words of eter-
nal life; and we believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ, the Son of the. living
God."
( Does the reader comprehend how Christ
is the bread of life ? How none can eat "this
bread," save as the Father draw him ? How
unless he eat this bread — unless he eat
Christ's flesh and drink Christ's blood —
there is no eternal life in him ? .
Blessed are they who, like the twelve dis-
ciples, can believe this doctrine of the spir-
itual life, even without knowing its implica-
tions, simply because they love and trust
Him who proclaims it. Are you among that
number? Or are you still one of die mul-
titude that would go away again under sim-
ilar circumstances ? i Let us proceed rever-
ently and prayerfully to think out the mean-
ing of Christ's words. I
I
The Spiritual Life. 211
II.
VARIOUS EXPRESSIONS OF THE SPIRITUAL
LIFE.
Nothing perhaps will better tend to clear
the way for this subject, than to consider the
various aspects in which the spiritual life is
spoken of in scripture. The most familiar
and oft-quoted aspect is that of spiritual
birth. "Except a man be born of the water
and of the spirit, he cannot enter the king-
dom of God." And then as if to contrast
the natural with the spiritual life, the Savior
adds: "that which is born of the flesh, is
flesh ; that which is born of the spirit, is
spirit."*
Here are a number of other statements of
this aspect: "Seeing ye have purified your
souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit
unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see
that ye love one another with a pure heart
fervently ; being born again, not of corrupti-
ble seed but of incorruptible, by the word of
God which liveth and abideth forever." t
"Whosoever is born of God doth not commit
sin ; for his seed remaineth in him : and he
cannot commit sin, because he is born of
God."* "Beloved, let us love one another:
•John 3: 5, 6. tl. Peter 1: 22, 23. tl. John 3: 9.
212 The Mormon Point of View.
for love is of God : and every one that loveth
is born of God, and knoweth God."§
Note that in all these passages, and in
others that might be quoted, not only is the
fact of the spiritual life characterized as by
a new birth, but its chief manifestation, love,
is invariably pointed out.
The idea of the spiritual life is also
couched in many passages under the aspect
of coming unto Christ or coming unto God.
"If any man thirst, let him come unto me
and drink." "He that cometh unto God
must first believe that he is, and that he is
a rewarder of them that diligently seek
him." "And the spirit and the bride say,
Come. And let him that heareth say, Come.
And let him that is athirst come : and who-
soever will, let him take the water of life
freely." In these passages the spiritual life
is described not by the manner of its incep-
tion, nor\by its manifestations towards oth-
ers, but by the goal towards which it causes
man to aspire. That goal is none other than
God himself; a fact which Christ compre-
hended when he said to his disciples, "Be ye
perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect."
Paul has. a most vivid conception of the
}L John 4: 7.
The Spiritual Life.
:u
214 The Mormon Point of View.
two states of the soul : "They that are after
the flesh do mind the things of the flesh ; but
they that are after the Spirit, the things of
the Spirit. For to be carnally-minded [i. e.
to be living the natural life] is death; but to
be spiritually minded is life and peace . . .
but ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit,
if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in
you. "| So in another place he says: "She
that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liv-
eth."fl And of Sardis, one of the seven
churches mentioned in Revelations, a church
which had become worldly again, the Spirit
said: "I know thy works, that thou hast a
name thou livest and art dead. Be watchful
and strengthen the things which remain, and
are ready to die."* John describes the tran-
sition from the natural to the spiritual life
in the same way: "We know that we have
passed from death unto life because we love
the brethren."t
We come now to the strangest of all the
characterizations of the spiritual life, that in
which it is represented as being Christ him-
self. "He that hath the Son hath life. And
he that hath not the Son hath not life," says
John.* "Know ye not," asks Paul, "how
II Rom. 8: 5-7. IF I. Timothy, 5: 6. •Revela-
tions, 3: 1, 2. tL John, 3: 14. J I. John, 6: 12.
that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be rep-
robates ?"§ Again: "Know ye not that your
bodies are the members of Christ ?"|| "My
little children," he writes affectionately to
the Galatians, "of whom I have travail in
birth, till Christ be formed in you." "I am
crucified with Christ," says Paul again,
"nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me."
The key to Paul's strong metonymies is
found in First Corinthians 6:19, where he
restates the question, "Know ye not that
your bodies are the members of Christ?"
in these words: "What! know ye not that
your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost,
which is in you, and which ye have of
God?" If therefore for "Christ" in the
passages above quoted, we read "the Holy
Ghost as charged with the mind and will of
Christ," all ambiguities disappear.
So also in no other way than this can we
understand Christ's own strong words : "At
that day ye shall know that I am in the
Father and ye in me, and I in you."* Taken
literally such a thing would be impossible;
but if we understand it figuratively, all diffi-
culty vanishes. The passage probably means
J II. Cor., 15: 5. ||I. Cor., 6: 15.
The Spiritual Life.
VI;
that the Holy Ghost, charged with Christ's
mind and will, is to be in man, and man's
mind and will, conveyed by the Holy Ghost r
is to be in Christ ; even as now the mind and
will of the Father is in Christ, and Christ's
mind and will is in the Father, through the
same sacred medium.
The development of the spiritual life fs
set forth in still another aspect by our
Savior. The Pharisees had demanded of
him when the kingdom of God should com©
and this is his answer: "The kingdom o£
God cometh not with outward show : neither
shall they say, Lo here, or Lo there, for the
kingdom of God is within you." Here the
well known figure of metonymy is used, the
effect being spoken of instead of the cause.
That change, that regeneration, which fits a
man for the kingdom of God, comes to himt
"without observation" or "without outward
show" as the marginal reference has it. Its
approach cannot be heralded by a trumpet-
It is a something born within him.
!IGal., 4: 19. 'John, 14: 10.
210 The Mormon Point of View.
III.
WHAT THESE VARIOUS ASPECTS MEAN.
All these methods of conceiving the spir-
itual life are strongly figurative, like nearly
all oriental thought. Let us briefly review
them in order to realize better their force
and bearing.
First there is the significant imagery sur-
rounding the birth conception. This implies
first the engendering of a new life without
ostentation and deep in the soul's womb of
truth. Next there is the coming forth of
this life into a new world ; innocent, pure,
and fraught with the potentialities of endless
evolution. This "being born of the Spirit"
represents the expression side, as "being
conceived of the spirit" represents the im-
pression side of the life divine. Other
analogies, — such for instance as the mutual
obligations between God and man as be-
tween parent and child, and the possibility
of the child attaining to the full stature of
the parent, — will occur to the reader by a
little reflection.
There is next the figure involved in "com-
ing unto God." "All ye that labor and are
heavy-laden, come unto me, and I will give
The Spiritual Life.
217
!18 The Mormon Point of View.
you rest;" and "If any man thirst let him
come to me and drink," are both figures
which would be very effective in a country
where fatigue and thirst are daily experi-
ences. The deeper significance, however,
seems to be that while the natural life meets
with obstructions on all sides, — known as
hunger, thirst, sickness, sorrow, death, —
because it is out of harmony with law, the
spiritual life, — being nothing more nor less
than perfect adjustment to law, — encounters
friction with the universe only to the extent
that it is yet imperfect.
"Consider the lilies of the field," said the
Master, "they toil not neither do they spin,
yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed
like one of these." The natural, organic,
frictionless evolution of the lily, is a fine
type of the spiritual life in its relation to the
universe; the labored, aritifical nailed-to-
gether pomp and circumstance of Solomon,
stands equally for the natural life. So also
when Christ said to the multitude, "He that
eateth this bread shall live forever," and to
the woman of Samaria, "The water I give
shall be a well springing up unto everlast-
ing life," he pointed out by other figures
that "coming unto God" is a process of
eliminating friction with law by obeying
law ; a process of coming into harmony with
the universe.
Consider next the many references in
scripture to the natural life as something
dead, and to the spiritual life as this same
something made alive. At first sound we
are inclined to think of the word 'dead' as
something that has ceased to live. But Paul
evidently used the word in the sense of 'dor-
mant,' or that which has not yet begun to
live.
There is a tremendous difference between
the two conceptions: the same difference as
that which subsists between an acorn, which
has not yet begun to be an oak, and a heap
of ashes, which recently was an oak. Yet
potentially these two extremes are alike;
should the acorn fail to become an oak, it
will not be long till it will be indistinguish-
able from the ashes.
It is in this sense only that the natural
man is dead; for hidden in every soul born
to earth, like the oak in the acorn, is the
potentiality of eternal life. But should this
potentiality never became dynamic, — should
the spirual life never be awakened — then he
is dead indeed; for nothing else than the
spiritual can come into eternal harmony with
the universe. What difference, when both
The Spiritual Life.
219
become mould, which was acorn and which
was ashes? "He that hath the Son, hath life;
and he that hath not the Son hath not life."
This is merely the scriptural statement of
the acorn that became an oak, or failing to
do so, became ashes.
I Respecting the next figure, that Christ is
our spiritual life, — that to become spiritually
alive is to have "Christ formed within us," —
I cannot say much here, as the explication of
this thought forms the central fact of my
thesis. However, it may be well to clear up
the notion of what is meant when we use
the word Christ.
To nine people out of ten the word brings
into mind the man Jesus, whereas the idea
Christ does not stand for any personality
whatever. It is confusing even to say that
Christ is Messiah or Savior : we think still
of the man. Christ is Messiah-hood or
Savior-hood, if the reader will pardon so
violent a coinage. Christ is the power that
saves — the power delegated by God to save
mankind.
When we speak of Christ as the "anoint-
ed one," we must understand that it is the
"anointing," not the "one," which, is Christ.
Call this anointing by what name you will,
— priesthood, Godhood, eternal kingship, —
220 The Mormon Point of View.
it is that power in the universe which can
save — the power that can awaken the ;lor-
mant spiritual life, and gradually attune the
soul to harmony with the universe.
| True enough, this power could never have
become operative save as it was clothed up-
on the man Jesus [or some other being,
should he have failed] ; no more than could
the abstract but very real power known as
the presidency of the United States, accom-
plish things without an executive being to
wield it.
On the other hand, the man Jesus,
stripped of this delegated power and author-
ity, might still have influenced the world in
the way that Buddha, Socrates, or Confu-
cius did; but he could no more have been
Savior, — he could no more have awakened
in man the spirtual life, — than you or I. Do
not misunderstand me: his personality was
such that he could perhaps have done a mil-
lion-fold more than you or I in preparing
men to permit God to light their torches of
eternal life. But even though this power t —
of awakening faith in God and a desire to be
saved, — were multiplied a million-million
fold, he would still not be Messiah or Savior :
for unless God touched the hearts of the con-
verts made by him, kindling within them the
The Spiritual Life.
life eternal, they would remain still in the
life natural.
If now we remember that Christ is always
to be thought of as Christhood, or that part
of Godhead whose special function is to save
mankind, — let the method be what it may,
— we shall have no difficulty in understand-
ing how Christ may be "formed within us,"
and how "he that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son hath not life."/
Let us lastly consider the characterization
of the spiritual life as the "Kingdom of
God" within the heart of man. In its literal
sense the Kingdom of God involves a perfect
social organism,^— something man has not
yet power to conceive, let alone form and
perpetuate. The main lines of this perfect-
ed society are, however, foreshadowed in the
Church. Beginning with the family as the
social unit and building progressively up-
ward through the ward, the stake, and so on,
to a wider and wider generalization of pow-
er, we come at last to Jesus Christ, the King
of kings ; every part being so perfectly co-
ordinated and subordinated that we shall
have a social structure which is the natural
expression of truth, and which, therefore,
cannot fail to bear fruits of love, joy, peace,
The Spiritual Life.
All those other ways of saying it — those fig-
urative conceptions — are only partial de-
scriptions of the changes that take place in
the soul under the regenerating warmth of
this potent influence.
It remains only to point out that we of
this day have reached a prosaic level in the
history of the world. The same heavenly
power which made Paul and his fellow-mis-
sionaries break into poetic ecstasies of ex-
pression, in trying to convey to others what
they felt, now leads us to say simply, but
still fervently : "We have a testimony of the
Gospel : we know that this work is from
God."
IV.
"except my father draw him."
"Therefore said I unto you, that no man can
come unto me except it were given him of my
Father." — Jesus.
' At the close of the chapter recounting
Peter's Pentecostal sermon occurs this sen-
tence : "And the Lord added to the Church
daily such as should be saved." This pas-
sage, so full of profound truth when rightly
understood, has been of untold mischief to
5J22 The Mormon Point of View.
and those other virtues involved in perfect
bliss.
Yet all this social evolution, Christ says,
is in our hearts. Plow ? Just as an oak tree
is in the acorn ; or as the forest to be, is hid-
den away in the seed that is. Just as the
kingdom of God is the perfect expression of
the collective spiritual life of His children,
so the potentiality of that kingdom — the
seed, as it were — must even now lie dor-
mant within us. How shall it be awakened?
How shall we enter the holy of holies in our
own hearts and commune with the author of
eternal life ? That is a question belonging to
my next chapter.
Here we shall do well to contrast these
figurative aspects of the spiritual life, — the
"birth of the spirit," the "coming unto God,"
the "passing from death unto life," "having
Christ formed within us," and the "King-
dom of God in the human heart," — with the
simple, literal expression of the same truth
in Peter's words : "Repent and be baptized
every one of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ, for the remission of sins and ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." It is
through this medium that God sets free the
spiritual life in man, even as a sunbeam
awakens the oak slumbering in the acorn,
224 The Mormon Point of l-'icw.
the religious conceptions of mankind. Ex-
amine the words carefully: "And the Lord
added" — as if salvation or damnation lay ab-
solutely in his will ; "such as should be
saved," — implying that there were others
predestined not to be saved. I repeat, the
misinterpretation of these words has been
the source of a spiritual blight to the world,
which is only another way of saying that on
this and a few similar texts rests the doc-
trine of predestination, which assumes that
men and women are elected to heaven or hell
by no act or merit of their own, but solely
according to the caprice of the Almighty.
One of these passages we have already ex-
amined. When Christ was confronted with
a multitude of people enthusiastic to make
him king, He did not hesitate to put the test
that should determine whether they were
acting on the basis of the natural or of the
spiritul life; for, said He, "No man can
come unto me unless the Father draw him."
• Nor was he afraid that the test he was about
to apply would discourage any that were
really fitted to come. "All that the Father
giveth me," said he, "shall come unto me:
andlhim that cometh to me I will in nowise
cast out." The result proved that none of
the multitude had "been given" by the
The Spiritual Life.
225
21H The Mormon Point of /-'uw.
Father, and not many of his professed disci-
ples.
What then? Shall man sit expectantly
or indifferently by, till it becomes God's
pleasure to "draw him" or "give him" to
Christ? Somehow, these passages must be
understood in consonance with the universal
invitation: "Let him who is athirst come;
and whosoever will, let him take the waters
of life freely."* The appeal here is to man's
volition, not to God's permission. It is
"whosoever will," not "whosoever God
wills." ) The problem is to reconcile these ap-
parently conflicting ideas. .
And this problem is easy enough to one
who steadily refuses to think mystery into it.
Of course ultimately, and in the absolute
sense, man is dependent upon God for the
breath that keeps him alive, for the water
and food that nourish him, and for all those
adjustments of nature whose sum-total con-
stitute his tenure of mortal existence; but
behind all this, man has a will no less free
than his Father's ; and should there be a
trial as to which is supreme, God could of
course, deprive him successively of all the
powers that have been added upon him by
•Revelations, 22: 17.
The Spiritual Life.
23*
of power to which it might not attain, should
it comply with the conditions.
In the light of this doctrine, it must be
self-evident that man never has attained nor
ever can attain, to any saving attribute or
spiritual power, save by an act of will on his
own part. What I mean is, God could not
elect that man should be blessed so or so
simply to please Himself ; any more than He
could decree that man should be damned so
or so without reference to eternal justice.
Man can be blessed only if he consent to
God's will ; he can be damned only if he de-
fy God's will. In other words, man's pro-
motion or demotion in the scale of progress,
is directly related to his own will, and not
predetermined by God.
\But man wills only because he desires. It
is here then, here in the field of desire^ the
field antecedent to will, .that all the forces of
the universe — usually summed up in the
word, environment, — play upon himj ( It is
here, therefore, and here only, that God's
love finds its opportunity to bless man, by
creating in him ideals of righteousness.
But man must consent to entertain these
ideals, in preference to the false and fleeting
ones which the less perfect environment —
such as the motives of his fellow man, his
virtue of obedience, since the birth of his
spirit in heaven, provided eternal justice
permitted such an undoing of man. But
man's will might still hold out negatively —
even to a point where nothing in the uni-
verse could touch it further.
Of course such a state would represent
our extreme idea of damnation — a state in
which there would be left to him the con-
sciousness to know and feel, but no vestige
of power to do, unless ability to refuse as-
sent to God, be considered power, and this
nothing could take away. It would be such
a state, in fact, as Lucifer the arch rebel is
even now approaching. In the positive
sense, therefore — that is, as respects power
to create, modify, change, — God's will must
ever be supreme over man's ; but in the neg-
ative sense they are, ever have been, and
ever must be equal.
This view of the human will must become
clear with a little thought.
Make man co-eternal with God, as Joseph
Smith does, and you cannot escape the
necessity of endowing him with free will ;
but free will is not free will, if it have any
limitation; if on the negative side it could
ultimately be crushed through coercion, or
if on the positive side there were any degree
228 The Mormon Point of Vietv.
own carnal instincts and appetites, or even
the whisperings of evil spirits — is urging
upon him ; otherwise God cannot "draw
him" into the spiritual life.
When, therefore, of the multitude that
listened to Peter on the day of Pentecost,
three thousand souls were "born of God" in
a day, we must believe that they consented
to entertain the ideal of the spiritual life
which the Holy Ghost put into their hearts,
otherwise the Father could not have "given
them" to Christ. So also of that other mul-
titude who partook of the loaves and fishes ;
the reason of their failure to grasp the hid-
den significance of Christ's strange words,
lay precisely in the obverse fact: they had
refused to entertain the spiritual ideal which
the Father was striving to form within them.
Predestination had nothing whatever to do
with either case.
These preliminaries being understood, let
us come face to face with the tremendous
significance of the fact which forms the
theme of this chapter. No man can come
unto Christ save the Father draw him. No
man, in and of himself, has power to awaken
his dormant spiritual life. No man can en-
ter the kingdom of God, except he be born
of the spirit. Vary the statement as much
The Spiritual Life.
229
230 The Mormon Point of View.
as you will, the truth remains the same:
"Coming unto Christ," "Awakening one's
spiritual life," "entering the kingdom of
God," all signify the beginning of a life
which, when perfected, will be in harmony
with the universe and therefore eternal;
consequently, as only those things can co-
exist between which there is no friction,
there is no eternal life for the man or wo-
man in whom the potentiality of the divine
sleeps on. Between the eternally dormant
and the eternally dead there is no difference
save in name.
Several important questions confront us
now. We have seen that man in and of him-
self is powerless to begin the new life, let
him do what he will in the way of observing
tenet, ordinance, and commandment; but
God is equally helpless to do so for him
without the co-operation of man's will. It
requires the united will of both God and
man in the most solemn compact of which
intelligences are capable. Nor could this be
otherwise, as we shall see later, when we
discuss the vital significance of the spiritual
life.
The next proposition to which I invite at-
tention, is this : The conditions involved in
the evolution of the spiritual life are not fiat
The Spiritual Life.
231
ous spiritual entity, stands to the vine itself
as a physical expression. And just as this
life of the vine is a reality, although quite
impalpable to our senses, s6 the saving pow-
er of Christhood, elsewhere in scripture
called the grace of God, must not be thought
of as simply God's ipsd dixit, but as a living,
vital energy flowing from the Infinite,
through the medium of Christ, into the
souls of men.
"I am the vine," says Jesus, "and my
Father is the husbandman." Without the
husbandman there could be no vine; with-
out the vine, there could be no branches, —
in fact no life whatever could be manifested,
for there would be no physical ve-
hicle for it. So, too, as Christ also
points out, there must be continu-
ous, unbroken connection between vine and
branches or the latter must die. "As the
branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it
abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye
abide in me . . . for without me ye can
do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is
cast forth as a branch and is withered."
Paul's representation of the Church is
that of the human body, in which the organs
stand for the various officers and the blood
for the spirit of grace which flows from God
conditions, depending upon the ipse dixit of
Omnipotence ; they are organic conditions
depending upon eternal law ; which proposi-
tion I shall try to make clear in my next
chapter.
V.
THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES.
"I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that
abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth
forth much fruit: for without me ye can do
nothing." — Jesus Christ.
No statement of my theme, — which is,
that the spiritual life involves a vitally or-
ganic relationship between God and man, —
could be more felicitous or suggestive than
that above quoted. I have only to develop
the bearings of this splendid metaphor to
make my subject clear.
( In th«.' statement, "I am the vine," it is
Christ the Savior, not Jesus the man, that
speaks. Christhood I have already defined
as that aspect of Godhood whose special
mission is to awaken and nurture the
spiritual life in man.) This saving
power stands in the same' relation to our
Elder Brother, through whom it becomes
operative, that the life of the vine, a mysteri-
232 The Mormon Point of View.
through the members uniting all the Saints
as one body of Christ. It is very effective
for Paul's purpose, but Christ's figure of the
vine seems better, — as showing more varied
aspects. Thus, for instance, our Lord illus-
trates what inevitably becomes of the mem-
ber) who is in the Church but not of it:
"Every branch in me that beareth not fruit
he [my Father] taketh away." Such a mem-
ber cannot hold his place; for even if the
knife be not used, he withers, then dries,
then is sloughed off. The only condition on
which a branch can remain is that it bear
fruit : the more fruit it bears, the more of the
life of the vine it appropriates to itself.
In the living vine, there will always be a
fluctuating relationship between the inner
life and its physical expression; precisely as
there is between faith and works in the
living church. Conceive, however, of a vine
without any life in it, an artificial vine whose
branches are nailed on and whose leaves,
flowers, and fruit ( !) take shape and color
by virtue of glue, paste, and paint. Con-
ceive, you say? What would be the object
of constructing such a vine?
' None whatever, so far as the vine is con-
cerned. But what of the multitude of so-
called churches of Christ, for which my
The Spiritual Life.
233
234 The Mormon Point of View.
supposed vine stands as a type? Would -,
there be no object in setting up these ? How.
many of the social usages to which the
world wags today are vitally organic in
their growth and development, and how,
many are merely bedizzened conventionali-
ties? We have improved vastly over our-
forefathers in the naturalness of our dress,
food, drink, recreation, manners, civil conn
ventions, and other social customs; but ha&
religion kept pace with civilization in this*
regard ? /' Following out Christ's conceptionr
of the vine, religion ought never to have,
had the first taint of artificiality. Its evolution
in spiritual life should have been as inevit-
ably natural and beautiful as that of the lily,
in the field; instead of which, however, go.
into any of the churches harking back to .
mediaeval timts and. examine the trumpery v
in tenet and ceremonial still paraded before
men.
Of all the shams and make-believes that
have at various epochs held mankind, those,
of religion vuithstand the iconoclast longest^
being embalmed, as it were, in men's vener-
ation and superstition. How far, alas, have
Christians departed from the simplicity of:
Him who said, "I am the vine, ye are the
branches !" As well expect the sap to flow^
The Spiritual Life.
235
attempted, as in that other of which it is
the type, the bud cannot become an integral
part of the vine, unless the Father of all life
"draw it" there.
But note now the alternative: While
there can be no shamming in the union of
bud and vine,— whoever heard of vegetable
hypocrisy? — this is not true always in the
union of souls unto Christ. ( Where the hu-
man spirit has not been attuned by faith and
repentance to the spirit of the Infinite, that
mysterious touch whereby the life of God
flows into the heart of man, cannot take
place, even though an angel from heaven
preside over the altar. Nay, there is no
power in the universe that could do it; for
though nothing (possible in itself) is im-
possible to God, yet he could not save and
make part of the kingdom of heaven an
unrepentant soul : it would be nothing less
than the uniting of contradictories.
As suggested above, the bud has no al-
ternative: it must either "stick" and bear
fruit, or shrivel up and fall off. Not so (ap-
parently) with the human scion: it frequent-
ly adheres to the growing tree of life by
virtue of dissimulation, that almost uni-
versal glue whereby the conventions of so-
ciety hang together: and such are the
to the leaves of a painted vine, as believe
that the spirit of grace will make alive and
sanctify all this artificial pomp and show.
But leaving mechanical religions aside,
let us examine some ot the tendencies to-
ward artificiality in the living, growing
church. If Christ is the vine, there are two
ways of securing branches ; by grafting (or
budding) and by natural growth. The first
represents conversions from the world, the
second the birth of children under the cove-
nant. There are interesting situations grow-
ing out of both.
The moment you compare the awakening
of the spiritual life with the placing of a
bud into a living vine, you proclaim the fact
that a true conversion is the establishing of
an organic relation with the soul of the uni-
verse. The bud must itself be alive, and its
life must moreover be of(a kind that can be
attuned to the life of the tree, or there will
be no commingling of the two. Man, the
agent of nature, puts the bud in place and
protects it, but there his instrumentality
ends. No pronouncement of horticultural
authorities, however eminent, will now af-
fect the result. The life of the tree flows in-
to the bud or it does not. Eternal law pre-
sides over this union. In the miracle thus
230 The Mormon Point of View.
mechanical fruits it brings forth in the shape
of prayers and punctilious attention to forms
and ceremonies, that it frequently deceives
the very elect.
I have intimated that there is a difference
between the law of life cleaving unto life in
the vegetable and the human world respect-
ively. But is this really true, after all ? In
the sight of God with whom a thousand
years are as one day, does not the soul that
"makes believe" to be part of the kingdom,
begin at once to shrivel, even like the bud
that fails to "take ?" And will it not as sure-
ly fall off when eternity comes, in spite of
its clumsy attempts to imitate the spontane-
ous works of grace ?
"What fools these mortals be" indeed!
And in nothing is their folly so barefaced as
in the clap-traps of religion. We smile in
pity at the heathen and his praying machine.
But how much better . are the mechanical
devices of the Christian, involving lip, knee,
cross, and rosary? "I am the vine, ye are
the branches.",) Religion is the evolution of
spiritual life. It belongs to the domain of
biology not the domain of physics. ' Only
that can co-exist with the universe which is
indissolubly united in truth and harmony
with the universe. Earth life presents ten
The Spiritual Life.
23'
thousand examples of society held loosely-
together by mechanical bonds — forms and
conventions that must be written down and
memorized. The only society that shall en-
dure when time is no more is that in which
soul shall be united to soul by an affinity
transcending knowledge ; an affinity which
begins with the awakening of the spiritual
life and ends by making the soul one with
Christ as Christ is now one with the Father.
VI.
WHY IMMORTALITY IS POSSIBLE ONLY ON
THE BASIS OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE.
"As the living Father hath sent me, and I
live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he
shall live by me." — Jesus Christ.
We have some deep thoughts to think in
this chapter and the next : let the reader en-
ter upon them with a spirit of reverent con-
centration.
"I am the bread of life," says our Savior.
"If any man eat this bread he shall live for-
ever." In this figure, bread stands for food,,
and without food man dies. But it is not the
physical life of which he is speaking. It is-
the life of the soul. Without Christ, the
life of the soul comes to an end ; with him it<
The Spiritual Life.
*.!> if
soever eateth this bread shall live forever;"
that is to say, the life which now is tenta-
tive, shall by eating this bread become eter-
nally secure.
To vary the figure: before us lies the
summit of eternity ; whoever passes this
shall partake of the nature of God — shall
live a life of eternal progress, (and there-
fore of eternal bliss). The soul that chooses
Christ for a guide will pass this summit
safely; but the soul that refuses to choose
him will fail to reach it. As there can be
no eternity of lingering on this side, such
a soul has but one alternative ; it must go
back to the point of being whence it started.
This means that all the power which it has
accumulated by countless ages of obedience,
will ultimately be stripped away. It must
die the second death, — the death of the
spirit. In other words, it must drop back to
the barren plain of mere existence.
Latter-day Saints believe that this must
inevitably be the alternative of every soul,
even as Christ says; but unlike Christians,
_lhey do not narrow the day of choice to this
brief span of earth existence. It is both un-
reasonable and unscriptural to hold that lives
which the patience and long suffering of
God has advanced to this splendid stage of
2:i8 The Mormon Point of View.
lives for ever. Such is the doctrine we are
to make self.-evident.
As a preliminary let us understand what
is meant by eternal life. If man, as taught
by Joseph Smith, is co-eternal with God,
then he is without beginning and without
en d — whatever befalls. But his existence
previous to birth in heaven was evidently
one of consciousness alone— consciousness
without power. This was not life, for life
involves growth, progress, increase of pow-
er ; whence alone comes bliss.
The soul that fails to eat the bread of life
cannot be annihilated as an intelligence
since it is eternal ; but its life must end — the
life of eternal progress whose ultimate goal
is to become perfect as God is perfect. Life
as opposed to mere being or existence man
now has ; it represents the accumulated reac-
tion upon his ego of countless ages of obe-
dience to God. But it is not yet eternal life :
it may swing back again to the endless
monotony of mere existence.
Christ's doctrine is this: that we have
reached a stage in our evolution when a
change is necessary, if we would go on fur-
ther. That change he figuratively calls the
"bread of life" and then announces that he
is that bread. His promise is, that "who-
240 The Mormon Point of View.
power, shall be eclipsed by their first refusal
to spiritual awakening. There is oppor-
tunity still for repentance after death. More-
over, we take hope in Christ's prophecy that
every knee shall bow and every tongue con-
fess,* and that no souls shall ultimately re-
main unforgiven save them that commit the
unpardonable sin.t /
Such is the unequivocal doctrine of the
spiritual life as enunciated by Christ. Were
my purpose merely to make the doctrine
plain, I should stop here; but my desire is
to understand it — to realize why it must be
so. If the doctrine be true, it is true in and
of itself, and not because God decreed it (in
the sense that He might have decreed other-
wise), nor because Christ proclaimed it; it
is true because the universe demands it —
because it is in consonance with the very
nature and integrity of the all-in-all.'
Begin your reasoning from the one thing
that we cannot think otherwise than eternal-
ly fixed and immutable—the universe itself.
Since this must* remain as it is, whatever
changes come to creations within its bosom,
it becomes the final criterion of things eter-
nal. At variance in nature and purpose
with the harmony and integrity of the all-
•Rom., 14:11. tMatt., 12: 31, 32.
The Spiritual Life.
►41
242 The Mormon Point of View.
in-all no created thing- can endure for ever;
for it must ultimately come into clash with
the fixed and immutable nature of the uni-
verse and so be broken to pieces. Converse-
ly, that which is at one with the nature and
harmony of the universe, must have eternal
existence by virtue of that oneness ; since
there would be no power in the universe to
overthrow it.
Christ's doctrine put in terms of this
thought may be thus stated: individual in-
telligences can be at one with the universe
only as they function on the spiritual plane.
The natural plane is only a transitory one,
as the experiences of life sufficiently testify.
That all things earthly must die and pass
away, has become a proverb among all peo-
ple. But perhaps experience does not always
suggest the ultimate reason : viz., that mortal
life and all its concomitants, are at variance
with the fixed nature of the universe, and
therefore cannot endure eternally. Nor did
.God design that the natural world should
continue forever; its evident purpose is
merely as a means of transition- from one
i fixed state of man, that of a barren, im-
potent consciousness, to another fixed state,
that of infinite creative power.
That our Father in heaven, though a per-
The Spiritual Life.
243
the Father: so he that eateth me, even he
shall live by me. He that eateth my flesh,
and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me and I
in him." Could oneness with God, and
therefore with the universe, be put in more
searching terms than this? )
Why Christ chose this peculiarly forceful
metaphor of 'eating his flesh and drinking
his blood,' we shall discuss in the next
chapter. But if we would know once for
all what it means, we have only to consider
well the words which I have placed in
italics : we eat his flesh and drink his blood,
when we attain that state of oneness with
him whereby he may be said to dwell in us
and we in him. Since there was in fact
such a union between him and the Father,
he must himself have done figuratively with
the Father what he now asks man to do
with him.
No declaration of our Savior is more
emphatic or more common than that "My
Father and I are one." So intimate is this
union that Christ speaks of himself as being
in the Father and the Father in him: "Nei-
ther pray I for these [his disciples] alone,
but for them also which shall believe on
me through their word [all mankind in
whom the spiritual life shall be awakened] ;
sonal being like Christ, has attained to this
power, we must believe on the evidence of
our senses : on the evidence that we are, and
that a solar system has been created by Him
to aid our transition toward a similar state.
That He is at one with the universe we
must believe also ; no less on the natural
grounds that a being not so united could
scarcely have attained to creative power,
than on the declaration of scripture, that He
is one with the Holy Ghost, which is the
scriptural equivalent of what I have called
the infinite harmony and integrity of the
universe.
If now we have perceived how and why
the Father's life is eternal, we have a basis
for comprehending the conditions of immor-
tality for man. To be one with the Father is
to be one with the universe ; and to be one
with the universe, is to be safely past the
possibility of friction with universal law;
in other words, it is to be spiritually homo-
geneous with infinite Truth. What could
prevent immortality, under such circum-
stances ?
Note now that it is precisely on this
ground of oneness with the Father, that
Christ bases his power to save man. "As
the living Father hath sent me, and I live by
244 The Mormon Point of View.
that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art
in me, and I in thee, that they may be one in
us."*
When the scriptures declare that the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one, what
is it but saying in other words that two
individualized beings, related as father and
son, have both attained to harmony with
the universe? Under no other condition
can we conceive rationally the possibility of
individual immortality. But under this con-
dition, we cannot conceive rationally any
escape from immortality.
Apply now this simple reasoning to man's
hope of eternal life. Does it need the declar-
ation of divine authority to convince us that
unless Christ be formed within us — unless
we are at one with him and the Father — it
is not possible to attain the life everlasting?
Is not this doctrine self-evident ? As before
pointed out, such a union is impossible on
the^ fluctuating basis of the natural life; it
must therefore take place, if it take place
at all, on the basis of the spiritual life. And
that is why "no man can see the kingdom of
God unless he be born again ;" and why no
man can enter it unless he is born of. the
water and of the Spirit.)
•John 17: 20. 21. '
The Spiritual Life.
245
2 l-'I The Mormon Point of Viczv.
VII.
NATURE OF THE LIFE WHICH CHRIST GIVES
TO MAN.
"As the Father hath life in himself, so hath
he griven to the Son to have life in himself."—
Jesus Christ. ,
Hitherto we have spoken only in figur-
ative terms of the change which is to fit man
for eternal life. Perhaps from its very na-
ture we shall not be able to approach it more
definitely. Nevertheless if I can take away
some of the vagueness surrounding the sub-
ject like a* halo ; if I can give it more weight
by putting into terms of the natural life
some of the suggestions clinging about the
revelations of the spiritual,/ 1 shall have ac-
complished the purpose of this chapter.
Consider then first the solemn declaration
of our Savior : "Except ye eat the flesh of
the son of man, and drink his blood, ye
have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh,
and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life;
and I will raise him up at the last day."
'Flesh and blood' stand here for the all-
in-all of the physical life. It was practically
the only life with which his hearers were
familiar. He must approach the unknown
through the medium of the known. It was
not the life of flesh and blood, but that oth-
er life, spoken of in the passage introduct-
ing this chapter, that he desired them to eat
and drink.
They would not be essentially better
should they merely mingle his natural life
with theirs; that is, should they 'eat the
flesh and drink the blood' of the man Jesus.
But let them mingle with theirs his spiritual
life j let them 'eat the flesh and drink the
blood' of Christ, i. e., take into their souls
the essential essence of Christhood ; let them
kindle in their lives the life that the Father
kindled in him — then indeed should they live
forever, and Christ 'would raise them up at
the last day.'
Thus Christ makes the physical life a
type of the spiritual. But the metaphor is
even richer still in its symbolism. In using
those words, Christ probably had in view
the sacrament of the Lord's Supper estab-
lished later in his ministry.
When we partake of the bread and the
wine we are figuratively eating the flesh and
drinking the blood of Christ. But note care-
fully this fact: we do it "for a witness," as
the sacramental prayer says, and not be-
cause there is saving virtue in the bread and
wine themselves. For a witness of what?
The Spiritual Life.
247
That our lives are daily absorbing Christ-
hood, that our spiritual natures have been
awakened and are being kept alive through
the medium of the Holy Ghost ; that Christ
is in us, by his Spirit, and we in him, even
as the Father and Son are in each other.*
In passing I may mention the fact that,
just as the cruel doctrine of predestination
grew out of misinterpretation of a passage
previously referred to, so from the words,
"Except ye eat my flesh and drink my blood
there is no life in you," has sprung up a still
more mischievous doctrine called "trans-
substantiation," which assumes that after
the bread and wine are blessed by the priest,
they cease to be bread and wine : they have
been changed into the real flesh and blood of
Christ. Millions of souls are lulled into a
false security, under the belief that they are
complying with the conditions of eternal
life when they masticate a consecrated
wafer 1
Let us next ask the question : What is this
Life which the Father had in himself and
•The Sacramental prayer makes us witness
that "we take upon us His name, and keep His
commandments that we may have His Spirit to
be with us." All the things I enumerate above
take place in lives of which the sacramental tes-
timony bears true witness. It is the same thing
from the view point of results.
248 The Mormon Point of View.
which he gave to the Son; the Life which
the Son would give to men, under the figure
of making them eat his flesh and drink his
blood ; the Life which is spoken of under the
various guises of "being born of the Spirit,"
"Coming unto God," "passing from death
unto life," "the kingdom of God within
man," "having Christ formed within us,"
and "obtaining a testimony of the Gospel?"
What is this Life without which our souls
must die, but with it, live forever? Can we
define it in terms that shall bring it still
nearer home to our comprehension ? Let us
try.
"In the beginning," says John, "was the
Word and the Word was with God and the
Word was God. The same was in the be-
ginning with God. All things were made by
him; and without him was not anything
made that was made. In him was life; and
the life was the light of men."* From the
fact that the Apostle adds further on : "And
the Word was made flesh and dwelt with
us," the passage is commonly taken to refer
to the man Jesus ; whereas by a little thought
it will be seen to refer to Christ, the office
held by Jesus.
•John, 1: 1-4.
The Spiritual Life.
•249
I am going to read the passage in this
way: "In the beginning was Godhood and
Godhood was with God [i. e. the perfected
man], and Godhood was God. [It was by
virtue of the office that the perfected man
became God] . All things were made by him
[the office plus the man; without whom
Godhood could not become operative], and
without him was nothing made that was
made.
"In him [i. e. God, the office plus the man]
was life, and the life was the light of men."
[Without the union of the two there could
have been no life, no light, no creations] ....
And Godhood was made flesh [i. e. was con-
ferred upon the man Jesus, whence he be-
came Christ] and dwelt among us [i. e. the
office plus the man] , full of grace and truth."
This interpretation, which space will not
permit me to elaborate,* will be found in
full consonance with scripture, and will ex-
plain a multitude of situations which must
otherwise remain mysteries. The original
word for which the translators put
"Word" and which I have rendered God-
•For a full discussion of the relation of God-
hood and Priesthood, also the relation of the
office to the being who bears it. I refer the read-
er to my book entitled "Scientific Aspects of
Mormonism."
The Spiritual Life.
■251
who are spiritually awakened as having, by
that change, become sons of God. "As many
as received him [i. e. the Word plus the
man] to them gave he power to become sons
of God, even to them that believe on his
name: which were born, not of blood, nor
of the will of the flesh, but of God."* And
this last aspect of the new life promises to
be more fruitful than any of the others in
making clear precisely what that change
signifies.
In the sense that God is the father of our
spirits, all men, converted or otherwise, are
sons of God. Now, it is not possible to be-
come what we already are ; John's expres-
sion must therefore stand for an entirely
different and advanced relationship. The
difference is probably this : The first birth,
the birth of our spirits in pre-existence,
makes us sons of God the personal Father;
our second birth, — not our mortal birth, but
our spiritual awakening, — makes us sons of
God in the sense of Godhood, the sense ex-
pressed by the "Word" in John's revelation.
This is precisely the sense in which Jesus
is the Son of God. He was a spirit born of
God as we are ; but he became the Son of
God when the "life" which the Father had
•John, 1: 12, 13.
250 The Mormon Point of View.
hood, meaning that power in the universe
by virtue of which our Father in heaven is
God, — was the Greek word logos. Very lit-
tle can be gained by looking up its etymol-
ogy. John evidently used it very much as we
use the letter x in algebra. It stood then, as it
stands now, for the "mystery of Godliness."
That it meant something more, however,
than the personality of Christ, is evident
from the fact that the apostle did not say:
"In the beginning was Jesus," nor even, "In
the beginning was Christ." If we abstract
the power which made Jesus the Christ, and
which makes our Father God, we shall prob-
ably have the true significance of the word.
Note now how the text agrees with the
passage at the opening of this chapter. "In
him was life," says John, "and the life was
the light of men." Is not this the same life
that the Savior refers to in these words:
"As the Father had life in himself, so he
gave to the Son to have life in himself"?
And this life is the light of men, the light
and life brought from the Father by Christ,
and given by him unto men ; the spiritual
life, without which the soul must perish.
We have had many equivalents in expres-
sion for the spiritual life, but John is now to
add to the list one more. He speaks of those
252 The Mormon Point of View.
in himself, was given to him that he also
might have life in himself; and we become
Sons of God when Christ transfers this
same life to us. Beings who have this life in
common may be said to live in each other;
even as the Father is in the Son, and the
Son is in the Father.
Now we see the significance of the pas-
sage : "He that hath the Son hath life, and
he that hath not the Son, hath not life."
Sonship in the sense in which Jesus was the
Son of God, is nothing less than the begin-
ning of Godhood ; and Godhood is Life,
Reason, Intelligence, the active, causative
Principle of the universe ; it is Omnipo-
tence, Omniscience, Omnipresence, the pow-
er to create ,control, change; a Power in-
finite, absolute, and eternal ; nevertheless a
Power which must forever hang potential
in the universe, till a personal will take hold
of it and make it dynamic for purposes of
spiritual evolution.
Such is the significance of Christ's in-
junction : "Be ye perfect as your Father in
heaven is perfect." Christ came to reveal
God : to show that Godhood could be at-
tained by man ; nay, to show that unless it
be attained in some degree, there is no
eternal life for man. The life and power
The Spiritual Life.
'Z5'6
he received from the Father he gives unto
man. He is our Elder Brother; we, too,
become Sons of God — joint heirs with him.
To the extent that we attain to Godhood, to
that extent we shall have glory, dominion,
and exaltation. He who fails to attain the
lowest degree of the life of God, must die
the second death ; for eternal life is nothing
else than Godhood.
VIII.
SPIRITUAL LIFE IN THE NATURAL WORLD.
"Take therefore no thought for the morrow:
for the morrow shall take thought for the things
of Itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil
thereof." — Jesus Christ.
Somehow the notion is deeply ingrained
in most people that to be spiritual-minded
is to be goody-good, to wear a Sunday
face, and have a prayer-meeting flavor to
one's conversation ; in short to talk and act
in a way supposed to be the fashion of that
indeterminate place called heaven. Uncon-
sciously the spiritual world is figured as a
place far away from the natural world ; a
place to be reached only by death, and then
only on condition that you have been "good"
in the conventional religious sense.
Such a notion is peculiarly attractive to
The Spiritual Life.
255
which the soul must assume in response to
nature ; in response to the breath of the
earth and the sky, to the flood-tide of glory
from the sun, and to the penetrating mystery
and awe from the stars. To be spiritual-
minded is to be natural and human — to be
honestly and truly one's self, however the
standards of convention may be shocked
thereby; for in no other attitude of mind,
can one be in a way to be moulded by the in-
fluences of the real heaven.
And what is the real heaven? The sum-
total of the soul's natural environment at
any given epoch in its spiritual evolution.
This environment may change — must
change, as the exigency of growth and de-
velopment may demand. And so, far off in
the future, we shall probably reach a state
such as the seer of today calls heaven;
which, however, is not heaven until we are
fitted for it — indeed, would be hell were we
suddenly put into it now. Heaven is the
here and now of any stage in the soul's
growth, and the spirit of heaven is the spirit
that breathes in upon us from the natural
world ; which, however it may change as we
change, will continue always to be the nat-
ural world. In other words, it will be just
that adjustment of environment which the
25-i The Mormon Point of View.
the supersentimental or watery, yellowish-
green type of mankind; with the natural re-
sult that the vigorously intellectual, the men
and women of hearty, robust human nature,
remain by themselves, a class hilariously
unregenerate ; who, when pressed to join the
ranks of religion, usually declare that they
are willing to chance the final reckoning on
the basis of an honest, moral life, without
any of the sanctimonious trimmings.
Let us once and for all lay aside this sick-
ish-sweet, conventional notion of being "re-
ligious ;" this hushed and awesome sanctity
which seizes us in the presence of a minster,
a church, or a cemetery. Let us lay it in
the same grave with the groans, the holy
amens, and all the other species of that
sniveling, psalm-singing cant with which
the Pharisee of every age envelopes him-
self as with a cloak. And if on occasion the
accumulated hypocrisy and reverence for
convention transmitted in our blood should
momentarily betray us, let us go out and
look the sun squarely in the face, and open
our lungs to the perennial freshness of na-
ture ; so shall we purge away the untruth
which we permitted unwittingly to soil the
native honesty of our souls.
For the truly religious attitude is that
256 The Mormon Point of View.
Father deems best adapted to react on our
souls with a view to making them perfect as
He is perfect.
But the here and now, or the soul's nat-
ural environment at any given stage, may
also be its hell. All depends on its attitude
toward the universe. Looked at from God's
point of view, the world of present environ-
ment is heaven — the highest heaven which
the soul is capable of apperceiving ; but
looked at from Lucifer's, — that is to say,
from the point of view of opposition to God
and the universe, — it is hell. There remains
consequently the third or intermediate atti-
tude, in which nine out of every ten men find
themselves ; an attitude neither heaven nor
hell, but one which veers now toward prog-
ress, now toward retrogression, and which
must ultimately declare itself for or against
God.
The spiritual world, as will thus be seen,
is not a world apart and remote from the
sphere of daily human experiences: it is
rather a definite way of looking at these ex-
periences and drawing truth and character
from them ; viz., the way in which God
would look at them and profit by them, were
he in man's place. To God all things are
spiritual. At the close of each "day" in
The Spiritual Life.
"257
•258 The Mormon Point of Viezv.
Genesis, He looked upon his work and pro-
nounced it "good." So to the man in heaven,
— I mean the man who is living the spiritual
life on earth, — all God's handiwork is good ;
and even from the evils of life, — evils re-
sulting from man's free will clashing with
eternal law, — he has learned also to extract
the good.
Such a man is truly in the kingdom of
God — heir to all its glory, and joint heir
with that other Son of God, his Elder
Brother. All the fruits of the Spirit — love,
joy, peace — are his, to the extent that his
soul has capacity for them. If the angels
near God's throne enjoy greater bliss, it is
not that they differ from him in species: it
is simply that they have longer been "born
of God," and their souls are consequently
more nearly attuned to the harmonies of the
universe.
How perfectly this thought agrees with
the passage which declares that the 'king-
dom of God is within man ;' or the numerous
passages which set forth that being 'born of
God' is 'putting on the new man in Christ
Jesus,' or being 'conformed to the image of
Jesus Christ.' The universe itself is the
kingdom of God to the Creator; he then
who has the kingdom formed within him,
The Spiritual Life.
•250
answer in large is that he comes out of
Babylon into Zion. Many simple-minded
people have interpreted Christ's warning,
"Come out of her, my people," to mean a
bodily exodus, or change of place. It may
mean this, too, as we shall see presently ; but
the essential fact in this warning, is to cease
viewing life and its duties from the trivial,
criss-cross standpoints of the natural man,
and begin to view them in the eternal per-
spective from which God looks at them. For
as Babylon stands for sin, the natural out-
come of confusion, so Zion stands for the
"pure in heart," or righteousness, the nat-
ural outcome of perceiving and obeying law,
or the will of God.
But coming out of Babylon into Zion is
too general a discription of the change in
conduct which results from seeing as God
sees. Let us come to a more detailed ex-
pression. What changes, for instance, are
involved in the phvsical life?
The criterion here, as in all other aspects
of eternal life, is the Creator himself: "Be
ye perfect as your Father in heaven is per-
fect," involves first of all the development of
a perfect physical body. What that signi-
fies in large cannot be discussed here. Suffice
it to say that so far as mortal life goes, it
must begin to see the universe as God sees
it. But Christ sees it now as does the Fa-
ther; consequently to be formed in Christ's
image is get his point of view, and there-
fore the Father's, in all things.
Now if seeing things as God sees them
constitutes the essential fact of heaven or
membership in the kingdom of God, then
seeing things from the view-point of Satan
must constitute the essential fact of hell.
What is the essential fact of the intermediate
ground? A confusion of view points, — an
endless medley of truth and error. As
might be expected, this middle ground is a
hatchery of creeds, orders, societies, relig-
ions, governments; a seethii^g mass of hu-
manity struggling for the right, but never
quite reaching it; "ever learning but never
coming to the knowledge of the truth." And
God calls this middle ground Babylon — a
very appropriate name.
IX.'
SPIRITUAL LIFE IN THE NATURAL WORLD,
CONTINUED.
"And I heard another voice saying, "Come
out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers
of her sins and that ye receive not of her
plagues." — John the Revelator.
If now it be asked what change is involved
in a man's life by being 'born of God,' the
260 The Mormon Point of View.
may thus be set down. Coming out of
Babylon in the physical sense involves the
developing of a body fitted to do the things
that need to be done. This means first of all
perfect physical health ; secondly, perfect
procreative powers ; thirdly, strength and
skill for physical achievement in the multi-
form directions required by the work of this
world.
Needless to say, these results do not come
through any occult endowment by the Fa-
ther of those who have entered his kingdom.
They come first from understanding physical
law, and second from obeying physical law.
Seeing as God sees, enables man to know
what is law ; doing as God would do, enables
him to reap the physical blessing in terms of
health, strength, and power to do what needs
to be done.
This is the whole mystery of physical sal-
vation. And no place or time in the uni-
verse is better for this development than the
here and now ; for God has arranged in this
world a certain physical environment, which,
properly reacted upon by us, builds us up;
but which improperly reacted upon, or not
reacted upon at all, breaks us down. Nor is
prayer or the pouring of oil effectual as sub-
stitutes for obedience to physical law. All
The Spiritual Life.
261
262 The Mormon Point of View.
such pitiful subterfuges are properly char-
acterized by scripture as faith without
works, and are dead.
We shall next consider what coming out
of Babylon means in the intellectual sense.
The intellectual is the inventive or cre-
ative aspect of Godhood. It was by virtue
of this power that our Father made the
world and all things therein; and all the
achievements of man, which are summed
up in the term civilization, would have been
impossible without this same endowment.
Man's intellectual powers may differ from
God's in degree, — even as the tiny sun mir-
rored in a dew-drop is smaller than its glor-
ious original, — but they do not differ in
kind ; and given an eternity in which to in-
crease in power, they may become perfect
even as His are perfect. It was therefore
no mere burst of hyperbole that led the poet
to exclaim : "What a piece of work is man !
How noble in reason, how infinite in facul-
ties ! In form and moving how express and
admirable! In action how like an angel, in
apprehension how like a God !"
If this power is so essential a part of God-
hood, it follows that man cannot be saved
even in the lowest degree of glory without
its development. Indeed, it is this power
The Spiritual Life.
263
peal , and the maudlin sentimentality of
song, prayer, and sermon, — which serve to
keep the man of ideas at home on Sun-
days, — save by the absence in church service
of that robust quality of the lecture-room, —
intellectuality ? '
But Zion has by no means worked out this
aspect of salvation either. The number
among us who wait for others to chew up
their intellectual food for them, is appalling*
There are even those who count it a virtue,
— in others, let us say, — to have that degree
of meekness which shall make them "follow
counsel," without asking why. In order that
I may not be misunderstood, let us think
this thought out.
Suppose a man achieves a certain result
through meekly, not to say blindly, obeying
counsel. Is his soul any richer or stronger
thereby ? Remember, it is not results which
react to build up character: it is planning.
The man who let others think for him may,
in a vulgar sense, possess the extraneous
results — a fine crop of grain, a million dol-
lars, a political office, or whatever else the
paltry outcome may be, — but will he be one
whit the more intelligent as farmer, finan-
cier, or politician ? These external results do
more than any other, that individualizes
man — makes him a sovereign; without it,
he distrusts himself, and becomes an echo of
others. Now if Godhood means anything,
it means individuality; and Godhood is
what we begin to partake of when we are
'born of God.' Fancy a man being saved,
and yet have to wait for his cue as to right
and wrong, or the thing to do next, along
a row of ten thousand other intellectual
weaklings !
And this thought brings us face to face
with the crying defect in the so-called in-
tellectual training in the world. Instead of
making sovereigns of men, it endows one
here and there, — or rather he endows him-
self in spite of it, — with independence in
thought and judgment, and trains ten thou-
sand others to listen for the tinkle of his bell
and be content to eat his dust. It is even
worse in that part of Babylon given over to
religions. In churches where dogmatism
rules whatever the priest says is law to the
people, and whatever the pope says is law to
the priest. Nor are things improved in the
boneless, sinewless, nerveless theology of
emotional religions. How, for instance, can
you account for the vapid goody-good ap-
264 The Mormon Point of View.
not affect his soul ; they go back through
him to the man that did the thinking: he is
only an extra limb of that man.
Salvation is an individual achievement,
God furnishing the opportunity, It accumu-
lates, not in terms of extraneous results, as
so many missions, so much tithing, such
regularity in prayers, fastings, or meetings,
so many dollars contributed to building a
temple, and so on ; it accumulates in terms
of soul development, in terms of character,
and intelligence. Results are measures ot
soul-progress only if they are our results.
No one else can think our way for us into
the kingdom of God; for the kingdom can
never be ours to a greater extent than it
shall be formed within us, whatever be the
external pronouncements on our heads.
"Following counsel," therefore, in the
sense of letting another decide for you, is
worthless as a means of salvation. Nay,
more; it may be vicious as being the very
source of priestcraft in him who assumes to
give such advice, and of spiritual slavery in
him who receives it. But following counsel
as the expression is used in our Church, —
that is, receiving instruction from men of
experience who have one's welfare at heart,
and then making up one's mind to follow it
The Spiritual Life.
%c<5
Still The Mormon Point of View.
or not, — that is entirely a different matter.
It would be difficult to see how unity and
harmony could be maintained in any social
organization without such free interchange
of ideas.
It is probably the social, moral, and spir-
itual attributes of the soul which make us
'good;' if so, it is the intellectual attribute
which makes us "good for something." Ev-
erywhere is this power in demand. It is the
savor of wit, the salt of wisdom, and the
basic ingredient in common sense: Without
the tang of intellectuality, prayer, song, and
discourse become insipid and nauseating;
with it, properly co-ordinated with feeling,
they invigorate and stir to action. The
highest endowment of intellectual power is
therefore not incompatible with the noblest
development of the spiritual life. It will be
only when we shall have among us the in-
tellectual giants of the race, — specialists in
all that concerns the advancement of the
world, — that those predictions will be ful-
filled which say that Zion shall become a
light unto the nations.
Consider then this vital attribute of the
intellectual life, and ask whether a more
admirable place and time than the here and
now could be conceived for its evolution.
The Spiritual Life.
G7
they would yet fit man directly for his mis-
sion in life ; that is, fit him to do the things
which God would have him do, in assisting
to regenerate the world.
Of course where the spiritual life begins
in a world so warped by convention and tra-
dition as ours, there is scarcely time, during
the short period allotted to man on earth,
to get completely away from Babylon in the
methods of the soul evolution. It is there-
fore not disparaging to say that we have not
yet worked out satisfactorily the problem of
intellectual education in Zion: our acad-
emies and colleges being conducted along
intellectual lines common to similar schools
in the world. We can at least hold up the
ideal of strong individualization in thinking
power as opposed to mere scholarship an i
the scramble for diplomas. The intellectual-
ly trained man needs no placard. He is a
thinker, and counts one anywhere in weight
and judgment. Fancy announcing by a
sheepskin on the wall that gold is yellow,
ductile, and non-corrosive!
We may now briefly examine some other
aspects of the spiritual life evolving in the
natural world. From the fact that immunity
from suffering is purchasable by living
hygienic lives, men may be trusted to find
Problems surmounted and understood are
the means of its development, and problems
are everywhere ; inviting attention at eye or
ear and by taste, or touch, or smell ; prob-
lems of natural and physical science ; of lit-
erature and art; of history, economics, and
sociology, — everywhere are problems. And
taking into account the whole range of in-
vestigation open to man, the problems so
vary in difficulty that there is a place for
every soul to begin, however low or high in
the scale of intelligence. Nor would a mil-
lion years of application exhaust the oppor-
tunities thus spread before mankind by the
great Teacher.
Now while the development of intellectu-
ality is in no way retarded, but on the con-
trary is rather accelerated, by the awakening
of the spiritual life, it is not to be supposed
that problems would, were we perfectly un-
der God's guidance, be undertaken in the
same way as now obtains in the world. This
part of man's development would be corre-
lated with all others ; and while it would be
pure speculation in me to say what that or-
der must be, this principle would perhaps
largely govern it. The range of objects
studied would be such that, while yielding
intellectual power as their essential product,
2ti$ The Mormon Point of View.
out and obey God's will as expressed in
physical law ; so also, from the fact that in-
tellectual power is directly related to lead-
ership and consequently to wealth and social
prestige, the intellectual side of education is
likely to grow more and more in accordance
with divine law. Therefore the man or
woman guided by the Spirit of God in his
spiritual development, will not have need to
diverge as widely from the best standards in
Babylon in these two aspects, as in that of
the social and moral world, of which I now
desire to speak.
From the nature of the facts, it is extreme-
ly difficult by human processes of generaliza-
tion to get at the truth — that is to say, God's
will, or the harmony of the universe, — in
social and moral relationships. Take away
the Ten Commandments, and all the other
guides to conduct given by revelation, and
how long would it take the world to general-
ize these truths from experience? Let us
grant that no divine nrecept has the effect of
law upon the race, until experience demon-
strates over and over the truth of it. Still,
there it is before the race, as something to be
tried, even while they are blundering on in
opposition to it. Suppose it were not there.
Where would the wisdom come from that
The Spiritual Life.
2G!I
should pick it up from a million cases of
suffering for want of it, and give it the form
of law ?
Nor should it be forgotten that it is for
the social and moral world that all soul evo-
lution finds its end and purpose. Heaven,
the perfect social world, where absolute jus-
tice presides, and where love, joy, and peace
are normal social products — this is the ideal
held out for perfecting our physical as well
as our intellectual powers. All the raw ma-
terials for developing social righteousness
are here: men, women, and the thousand
relationships, back and forth, which grow
out of their mutual needs ; and implanted in
each soul are the germs of the social quali-
ties to be developed: justice, mercy, truth,
love. Situations confront us daily and hour-
ly, which, reacted upon rightly, fit us for
heaven, by creating heaven within us ; but
which, reacted upon wrongly, create discord
within us and, — by the law that we inevit-
ably act out what we- are — also without us.
But what is right conduct? Some general
maxims we have; but the combinations in-
v61ving their application vary so much that
they are often honored as much in the
breach. as in the observance.
It is here, then, that the spiritually born
■Z70 The Mormon Point of Vieu:
reap their greatest blessing. To be in Christ
as Christ is in the Father; in other wotds,
to see right and wrong in the social and
moral world as Christ and the Father see
them ; to know how to react upon any situa-
tion, by realizing what the Son of God
would do — this is the supreme guerdon of
the spiritual life to man.
But now comes a crisis in which Babylon
ceases to be merely a state of mind, and be-
comes a place from which the convert would
flee if he could, to Zion — also a place now by
the same soul experience ; for no sooner does
he attempt to act out the social truth as God
makes him feel it, than he finds hhnself iso-
lated, and so acting toward his fellow-men as
to call down their execrations upon 1. s head.
How lonely he feels then ! Straightway the
inner Zion begins calling for the outer Zion,
and he must obey. Such is the genesis of
the spirit of gathering.
Have I made my thesis clear, that the
spiritual life is to be lived in ilie natural
world? Not only is the natural world the
best place to perfect the spiritual man, it is
the only place for intelligences organized as
we are now. Were this not so, God would
have given us that other place instead of this
The Spiritual Life.
v J i.
273
The Mormon Point of Vicio.
one. Here and here only, so far as we are
concerned, are the problems physical, intel-
lectual, moral and social, the overcoming of
which is the means of making us perfect as
God is perfect. To sigh for a purer, better
world in order to be more spiritual-minded,
is flatly to lie down and give up the fight.
Thank God for the admirable world of sin,
in which he has placed us; but thank him
more for showing how to carve heaven out
of it.
X.
CONCLUSION : THE PEARL OF GREATEST
PRICE — HOW FOUND.
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness and all these things shall be added
unto you." — Jesus Christ.
Next to passing from existence into life,
the most far-reaching event in the evolution
of a soul is to be born again, "not of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God." Passing from existence into life made
us children of our Father in heaven ; passing
from pre-existent life into mortality, added
a new relationship to the 'fathers of our
flesh,' without changing our first relation-
ship to the 'Father of Spirits;'* but passing
from the natural to the spiritual life, makes
us sons of God — partakers of the power
which makes our Father in heaven God.
The first birth was of most importance, for
without it we should not have seen life at all/
the second or birth of the spirit is next in
importance, for without it this life, now far
advanced, must begin to stand still, then
retrograde through various degrees of hell
to the plane of mere existence. Eternal life
is possible only by coming into harmony
with eternal law, and law is the will of God.
Consider then, how tremendous is this
epoch of the spiritual life, looked at from
God's point of view. It is the crisis in the
psychic evolution of the soul. Without it,
life such as we have, begins to go back, ulti-
mately to set beyond the horizon whence it
rose ; with it the soul shall have no setting,
but go on and on forever, each crescent
morn of being climbing to a still more glori-
ous noon.
But from man's point of view ? Alas, for
the confusion of values here below! How
'Hebrews. 12-9: "Furthermore, we have had
fathers of our flesh, which corrected us and we
gave them reverence: shall we not much rather
be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and
The Spiritual Life.
At o
must our Father in heaven feel, what must
be the sadness of our guardian angels, when
the event for which our souls have been
shaping for perhaps a thousand million
years, — is passed by, again and again, be-
cause of some trivial allurement of the phys-
ical senses! Reckless and heedless children
of the Infinite that we are ! Giving up our
title to a star that we may pursue a fire fly !
Elsewhere I have placed all intelligences,
whether in heaven, on earth, or in hell, into
three classes ; the workers, the worked-with,
and the damned. The first class comprises
all who are working intelligently and there-
fore in harmony with the universe; and by
intelligently I mean, under the leadership of
Jesus Christ. The second class includes the
souls that are striving earnestly perhaps but
unintelligently, the men and women of mete-
oric standards ; in other words, the hosts of
Babylon. They get their name, in this di-
vision, from the fact that the intelligent
forces of the universe are ever-striving to
win them over. The third class is made up
of souls who, having taken sides against
God, are thence stricken with lock-jaw of
the will; that is to say, having sinned
against the Holy Ghost, it can no longer
come to them to give them repentance, and
The Spiritual Life.
275
become 'sons of God,' beginners in the realm
of creation, taking noon themselves God-
hood — in other words Priesthood — * as
they shall win victory after victory over en-
vironment.
Now is it thinkable that beings eternally
free could enter into a mutual relationship,
such as that between God and man, without
mutual understanding and mutual consent?
Christ has told us that man cannot come into
this commonwealth of workers unless the
"Father draw him." But the Father can
draw no man who does not consent to be
drawn. The relationship is therefore a mu-
tual compact involving covenants. 'Born of
the water and of the Spirit' is a figurative
description of these covenants. 'Baptism
by immersion for the remission of sins and
the laying on of hands for the reception of
the Holy Ghost, by one having authority to
act for God,' — is a more complete statement,
of the same thing. Let no man beguile him-
self into thinking he is 'born of God,' who
neglects these divinely appointed ordinances.
And now for a moment let us consider
the medium whence Christ can be in us and
•Priesthood is evidently related to Godhood
as part to whole: Godhood In part is Priesthood;
Priesthood in full is Godhood.
274 The Mormon Point of View.
consequently they are damned. To be
damned is to be fighting the universe, with-
out power to stop until you are undone.
The kingdom of God is a commonwealth
of workers, with Jesus Christ as Captain of
industry. Work — physical, intellectual,
moral, social, spiritual — is only another
name for reacting upon environment, and
is therefore necessary to salvation. "Hence-
forth," said Jesus, "I call you not servants ;
for the servant knoweth not what his lord
doeth, but I have called you friends: for
all things that I have heard of my Father, I
have made known unto you." That is the
key-word among the spiritually-born ;
equality to the extent that our souls have at-
tained capacity for it. In no other way
could 'we be in Christ, and he in us, even
as the Father and Son are in each other.'
Up till the time of spiritual birth men are
servants, as 'not knowing what their lord
doeth :' doing things blindly always involves
servitude. I But thereafter they become free
to the extent that they know ; not only this,
to the extent they know, know they know,
to the extent they realize that in keeping the
commandments of God, they are obeying
eternal law, not cringing before the caprice
of a being supreme by will only. Thus they
276 The Mormon Point of View.
we in him ; the well-spring or source of the
spiritual birth ; the means whereby man may
look at things from God's point of view, and
hence be one with Him; the new Life-fluid
which, out of our daily experiences, organ-
izes character, power, Godhood ; just as the
mysterious life of the vine organizes, from
earth and air, the leaves, the flowers, the
fruit, and the vine itself. This medium be-
tween God and man is called in scripture the
Holy Ghost
If we can conceive the "cosmic fluid"
which fills the universe so impressed in rate
of vibration by the will of the Creator, as to
present the various phenomena of light,
heat, electricity, actinism, chemism, and
perhaps gravitation, it should not be difficult
to conceive the will of God so coloring
and surcharging the same ' infinite medium
with his thought and feeling that it can, by
the law of telepathy, reach and influence the
soul of man; to the extent that it shall
awaken and nourish his dormant spiritual
nature, even as a sunbeam warms to life and
being the lily of the field.
"And I will pray the Father," said Christ
when he was about to depart, "and he shall
send you another Comforter, that he may
abide with you forever; even the Spirit of
The Spiritual Life.
277
7S The Mormon Point of View.
It "O
truth ; whom the world cannot receive, be-
cause it seeth him not, neither knoweth him ;
but ye know him ; for he dwelleth with you
and shall be in you And he will guide
you into all truth : for he shall not speak of
himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that
shall he speak ; and he shall show you things
to come. He shall glorify me : for he shall
receive of mine, and shall show it unto
you/'*
Tt is through this Spirit that we are com-
forted, if consolation is what our souls stand
in need of; and enlightened, if truth be the
food we lack. In like manner it dispenses
love, joy, peace, long-suffering, and all the
other attributes of God, even as man's life
shall have need of them. Indeed, it is the
source of the spiritual life ; ministering as
easily to all the requirements of man's psy-
chic evolution, as the sun nourishes and
brightens alike each of a thousand hues in
the flowers on the breast of mother earth.
Let us not forget, however, that this Spirit
abides with man, not primarily because of
works, which may be utterly mechanical and
lifeless, but because man gives his heart to
God, reserving nothing, but loving Him
with all his might, mind, and strength. Un-
•John, 14: 16 and 16: 13, 14.
The Spiritual Life.
279
barter of equivalents: so many require-
ments made by God in terms of prayer,
song, tithes, meetings, rites, ceremonies, or-
dinations, and endowments, on the one hand,
and such salvation and exaltation as a re-
ward on the other. Who would be so rash
as to say there are no Pharisees among Lat-
ter-day Saints today ?
The danger of pharisaism is greatest per-
haps in the education of our children.
Trained from childhood by conscientious
parents to revere the outward forms of re-
ligion, they are often held mechanically to
external works of righteousness, as if salva-
tion depended primarily upon these things.
Fortunately, however, there is in the Church
of Christ no ulterior motive for keeping up
so artificial a relationship ;*and so one of two
things usually takes place: either they sink
into a state of indifference in order to (escape
the pecuniary sacrifices and unpopularity in-
volved in active membership, or else the
vital spark of spirituality is kindled in their
bosoms, and so the works they have been
accustomed to doing, cease to be perfunctory
and mechanical.
•Unless the desire to be married in the
Temple of the Lord, be such an external motive.
In most such cases, the Pharisaism lasts only
long enough to accomplish this purpose, when
it subsides to the state of indifference.
der such circumstances, there [ cannot
fail to be works ; but the works which count
for life eternal are those only which are the
natural reactions of grace, just as the leaf
and flower are the inevitable outflowing of
the life of the vine.
It is here that danger lurks in our re-
ligious life as a community. As there can be
no true grace that does not express itself in
works of righteousness, so we are likely to
believe the converse equally true, and con-
sequently urge men to godly works as the
only means of salvation. But in this we
may be utterly mistaken : works of right-
eousness may be carried out, under the
stimulus of religious association, which are
no more related to the spiritual life of him
who does them, than branches tacked or
glued on are vital parts of a growing vine.
Such works the Pharisees were very
punctilious in performing, yet Christ had no
other name for them than hypocrites and
whited sepulchers; and Pharisees, let it be
remembered, are not peculiar to any time
or country. They are usually men and wo-
men without imagination, who would accu-
mulate salvation on the same principle that
they fill their barns and granaries ; and who
consequently look upon eternal life as a
280 The Mormon Point of View.
How to awaken the spiritual life of our
children and so make a living bond between
them and God, must ever remain the ques-
tion before all other questions for Latter-day
Saints to face. Habituating them by ex-
ternal pressure to works of righteousness
is not the solution, as the thousands of
young people who drift away from us into
the world yearly must sufficiently testify.
Space will not here permit me to take up all
the bearings of this question. Let me close
this article by re-stating it in the terms of
Christ's parable of the vine and branches.
Children born under the covenant evident-
ly stand in a relationship to the spiritual life
different from that of converts from the
world. If the latter may be represented by
buds placed into the vine, then the former
may be represented by natural buds formed
on the vine. Now, buds placed in a vine
may or may not grow and partake of the life
of the trunk, but the natural buds are likely
to do so. By how much more likely the
natural buds are to have life in them than
are the engrafted ones, by that much chil-
dren of the covenant are more intimately
related to the spiritual life, than are children
of Babylon.
But natural buds sometimes remain dor-
The Spiritual Life.
281
282 The Mormon Point of View.
mant, and this fact, as long as it holds, pre-
vents them from becoming vital parts of the
tree. The question, as applicable to my
point is, how to force a dormant bud into
life. Sometimes the bark of succeeding
growths overlaps and buries it so deeply as
to make its sprouting all but impossible.
By virtue of birth under the covenant, as
also by virtue of baptism at eight years of
age, our children are, like natural buds, filled
with the potentiality of eternal life. But
it sleeps in them, in nine cases out of ten.
Their baptism and confirmation place them
in the Church : they are not yet of it. No
power save their own and God's combined
can make them of it. Meanwhile the bles-
sing of the spiritual life, the promise of
grace involved in their baptism and con-
firmation, hangs over them, awaiting such
time as they shall have the faith to call upon
God for themselves, and shall desire — more
than they desire anything else on earth — to
be numbered among the workers under
Jesus Christ: then and then only will the
eternal life be born in them.
How to awaken the spiritual life of our
children, already in the church yet not of it,
is, I repeat, the supreme question. And here,
too, the operation becomes the more difficult
as layer after layer of sin and worldliness
have buried the precious bud from the light.
This last condition at least every parent can
prevent, if he will; the other condition, that
of developing a testimony of the Gospel in
the child, comes also within the range of a
wise parent's influence. And so having in-
troduced the most important aspect of my
present theme, I leave it to the thought of
my readers, and perhaps to some future dis-
cussion in the Mormon Point of View.
THE HARRIS-ANTHON EPISODE.
Thus far the "Dictionary of Slander" has
been devoted mainly to the refutation of
slanders connected with the Book of Mor-
mon. One more matter may briefly be
touched upon in the same connection; viz.,
the conflicting statements of Martin Harris
and Professor Anthon with reference to
what took place at their famous interview
respecting the characters transcribed by the
Prophet from the Gold Plates. The com-
plete statements are too long for insertion
here. I therefore make such excerpts from
each as shall enable the reader to form
some judgment as to their relative merits.
The Hums-Anlhon E^isnit
i.<
25 3
If ever there was a doubting Thomas, yet
one honestly bent upon testing the claims of
the youthful Prophet, that man was Martin
Harris; and he had a wife more skeptical
than himself, — and less honest, perhaps, if
one may judge by the outcome of their
lives. Naturally, therefore, he could not be
induced to advance means toward translat-
ing and publishing the Book of Mormon
without satisfactory proof that Joseph's
claims were genuine. The time had not yet
come to show the Plates to chosen witnesses,
consequently Martin could not reassure
himself by an examination of the original;
the Prophet did the next best thing for him :
he made a copy consisting of seven parallel
lines of the characters on the Plates, and
subjoined thereto a translation of them.*
Here was a means of satisfying himself,
and perhaps of convincing his wife, who
strongly opposed his associations with Jo-
seph Smith. He first called on Dr. Samuel
L. Mitchell of New York, who, unable to
give him any satisfaction referred him to
Prof. Charles Anthon. The following is in
•This transcript is now in the hands of the
descendants of David Whitmer, one of the Three
Witnesses. Copies have been rather widely pub-
lished, a nd so I do not reproduce them here.
!28-t The Mormon Point of View.
part what the latter has to say of the inter-
view :
"Upon examining- the paper in question, I
soon came to the conclusion that it was all a
trick — perhaps a hoax. When I asked the per-
son who brought it, how he obtained the writing.
he gave me the following account [with which
the reader is already familiar]. The farmer add-
ed that he had been requested to contribute a
sum of money toward the publication of the
Golden Book So urgent had been these solic-
itations, that he intended selling his farm and
giving the amount to those who wished to pub-
lish the plates. As a last precautionary step, he
had resolved to come to New York, and obtain
the opinion of the learned about the meaning of
the paper On hearing this odd story, I
changed my opinion about the paper, and in-
stead of viewing it any longer as a hoax, I be-
gan to regard it as part of a scheme to cheat the
farmer of his money, and I communicated my
suspicions to him to beware of rogues. He re-
quested an opinion from me in writing, which
of course, I declined to give, and he then took his
leave, taking his paper with him."*
The points to bear in mind from this ex-
cerpt are three: (i) Martin Harris is said
to have made the interview with Anthon
a test of whether or not to advance money
to Joseph Smith; (2) Professor Anthon
claims to have pointed out in strong terms
that the characters on the paper were the
trick of a rogue who was after Harris's
money; (3) Anthon claims that he refused
to give Harris a written opinion. We may
•Letter to E. D. Howe, dated February 17,
18.14. four years after the Book of Mormon waa
published.
The Harris- Anthon Episode.
285
280 The Mormon Point of View.
now introduce Joseph Smith's statement of
the report made by Martin Harris on his re-
turn:
"Professor Anthon stated that the transla-
tion was correct, more so than any he had before
seen translated from the Egyptian. I then
showed him those which were not yet translated,
and he said that they were Egyptian, Chaldaic,
Assyriac, and Arabic, and he said that they were
the true characters. He gave me a certificate
certifying to the people of Palmyra that they
were true characters, and that the translation
of such of them as had been translated was cor-
rect. I took the certificate and put it into my
pocket, and was just leaving the house, when
Mr. Anthon called me back, and asked me how
the young man found out that there were gold
plated in the place where he found them. I an-
swered that an angel of God had revealed It
unto him.
"He then said to me, 'L,et me see that certifi-
cate.' I accordingly took it out of my pocket
and gave it to him, when he took it and tore It
to pieces, saying that there was no such thing
now as the ministering of angels, and that if I
would bring the plates to him he would translate
them. I informed him that part of the plates
were sealed, and that I was forbidden to bring
them. He replied, 'I cannot read a sealed book.' "
There will perhaps be no getting at the
exact truth in this episode. It is the privilege
of every man interviewed to deny and de-
nounce any statement attributed to him, if
not over his own signature; and the exam-
ples of altercation between interviewer and
interviewed have been numerous enough,
both before and after this event, not to occa-
sion surprise at the fact of discrepancies.
The Harris- Anthon Episode.
that he was only a pseudo scholar, who
might feel it necessary to his reputation to
pass instant judgment upon anything oc-
cult in ancient languages. How could such
a man pose as learned before the "plain,
simple-hearted farmer," by even a moment's
hesitation ?
It must next be remembered that there
was no social reason for an adverse report,
"Mormonism" not being in existence as yet.
The story told by Harris would appeal pure-
ly to the antiquarian, not the religious bigot.
If it be urged that the story itself was in-
credible, let the reader bethink himself of
the "gold-brick" inventions that have caught
wiseacres of the library many a time before
and since.
As to the exact terms of the certificate
claimed to have been handed to him, Mr.
Harris's memory may be excused if it err in
detail or degree of emphasis ; since he can
hardly be said to have read it twice, before it
was destroyed. It is a vital question, how-
ever, whether he received such a written
statement from Prof. Anthon at all. That
he did, I shall now prove from Anthon him-
self, in spite of his emphatic denial.
On April 3, 1841, seven years after his
letter to Howe, and when he had probably
Nevertheless, it will probably be worth our
while to balance probabilities in this case ;
especially as every anti- Mormon writer
makes much of what he calls the manufac-
tured testimony of Martin Harris.
In the first place, if we may judge by the
result, then Martin's testimony must be be-
lieved, since so far from being discouraged
by Anthon's words, he went back to Joseph,
acted as scribe for three months, and when
the time came, actually sold his farm to se-
cure the money necessary to publish the
first edition of the book.
On carefully examining some parts of
his report, we may well conclude that
he is guilty of that common fault of
the ardent convert, especially if he be
unlettered, — overstatement. Anthon might
have said that the characters were a
medley of "Chaldaic, Assyriac, Arabic, and
Egyptian," since such a general description
is suggested by them ; but he would hardly
have said that they were 'true characters'
and that the 'translation was correct;' that
is, if we give him credit for being really a
careful scholar. Characters of this type are
deciphered with too much labor and un-
certainty to pronounce glibly upon them at
sight. There is, of course, the possibility
2SS The Mormon Point of View.
forgotten just what that letter contained, he
wrote another on the same subject to the
Rev. T. W. Coit, of New Rochelle, N. Y.,
from which I cull this paragraph :
"On my telling the bearer of the paper, that
an attempt had been made to impose on him and
defraud him of his property, he requested me to
give him my opinion in writing about the paper
which he had shown to me. I did so without
hesitation, partly for the man's sake, and partly
to let the "man behind the curtain' see that his
trick was discovered. The import of what I
wrote was, as far as I can now recollect, simply
this, that the marks in the paper appeared to be
merely an imitation of various alphabetical
characters, [thus confirming Harris's 'Assyriac,
Chaldaic, Arabic, and Egyptian' statement], and
had, in my opinion, no meaning at all connected
with them. The countryman then took his
leave, with many thanks, and with the express
declaration that he would in no shape part with
his farm, or embark in the speculation of print-
ing the golden book."
But it is not in this discrepancy alone that
Mr. Anthon's memory fails to guide him
aright. In his first letter he describes the
contents of the paper as follows: "Roman
letters inverted or placed sidewise were ar-
ranged and placed in perpendicular columns,
and the whole ended in a rude delineation of
a circle, divided into various compartments,
arched with various strange marks, and evi-
dently copied after the Mexican calendar, by
Humboldt." As a matter of fact, the de-
scription fits in scarcely any detail. The
characters were arranged in seven parallel
The Harris- Anthon Episode. 2h9
290
The Mormon Point of View.
lines, after the order of Hebrew script, and
without any suggestion of the perpendicular
columns, the circle with its various compart-
ments, or the Mexican zodiac.
Consider now what must have been Mr.
Anthon 's frame of mind when he wrote that
letter. Naturally the first Mormon mis-
sionaries made much of this Harris-Anthon
interview and its outcome, which they in-
terpreted as the fulfillment of a prediction
by Isaiah (29:11 to 14) which reads as fol-
lows:
"The vision of all Is become unto you as
the words of a book that Is sealed, which men
deliver to one that is learned, saying, Head this,
I pray thee; and he saith, I cannot for It is
sealed : and the book is delivered to one that Is
not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee, and
he saith, I am not learned. Wherefore the Lord
said. For as much as this people draw near me
with their mouths, and with their lips do honor
me, but have removed their hearts far from me,
and their fear toward me is taught by the pre-
cepts of men; therefore, behold, I will proceed
to do a marvelous work among this people, even
a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom
of their wise men shall perish, and the under-
standing of their prudent men shall be hid."
This 'marvelous work and wonder' was
interpreted to be the restoration of the Gos-
pel in its pristine fulness and power; in
other words, "Mormonism." The book that
was handed to the 'learned saying, Read this
I pray thee,' was figured in Mormon dis-
T/te Harris Anthon Episode. 291
surely curiosity if nothing else, would have
prompted him to accept the book. He saw ;
however, no better way to relieve his feel-
ings than to refuse it the harbor of his home.
And he closes his letter to Mr. Howe in this
characteristic fashion: "I must beg of you,
as a personal favor, to publish this letter im-
mediately, should you find my name men-
tioned again by these wretched fanatics."
Suppose now that Mr. Anthon had said
and done, not all that Martin Harris claimed,
— for it is well to allow something to over
statement, — but substantially what was
claimed ; as he might readily have done in
an early day, when no opprobrium could be
imagined as attaching to his statements:
would he or would he not take occasion to
deny it later? Remember that by doing so
he would not only be believed but applauded
by those whose good opinion he courted ; nor
would he lose anything in self respect, since
if he did say those things he wauld easily
convince himself that he had been imposed
upon. And what would be the use of ad-
mitting even a mistake ? Especially as to do
so would evidently be at the cost of popular
ostracism .
Personally I believe strongly in the case
as I have stated it; let the reader believe as
courses to be the Book of Mormon ; and the
result of the attempt on the part of the
learned to read it was held to be set forth
in the phrase, "the wisdom of their wise men
shall perish and the understanding of their
prudent men shall be hid, "since the book was
brought out by one that was not learned.
Think how galling it must have been to
the pride of this New York savant, to be
twitted by his academic fellows as one whom
the Mormons named regularly in their ser-
mons ; an early proselyte ; a man who had
given the countenance of learning to re-
ligious vagaries that made the scurvy propa-
gators of them the by-word of respectable
orthodoxy !
Something of his state of mind breathes
out in these letters ; wherein he says that the
same countryman came to him later with a
"translation in English of the 'Golden
Bible'," of which he desired to make him a
present. "The more I declined receiving it,
however, the more urgent the man became
in offering the book, until at last I told
him plainly that if he left the volume, as
he said he intended to do, I should most as-
suredly throw it after him as he departed."
Think of the exasperation implied in this
threat. Had his mind been normally sane,
The Mormon Point of View.
he is constrained. Suppose he decide in
favor of Anthon and against Harris. Well,
what of it? I protest against the use made
of this incident to blacken the character of
the Latter-day Saints. Mormonism is not
responsible for the want of veracity in any
man or set of men. The Gospel draws many
a weak man into the fold ; but it does not
draw him by reason of his weakness, but
because of some element of righeousness
that his weaknesses have not choked out.
Harris proved in many ways a sinful man ;
but his weakness never once took the form
of impeachable testimony, and therefore he
deserves to be believed, — with certain res-
ervations as to verbal accuracy, which I have
pointed out, — in this first important stand
respecting the new dispensation of the Gos-
pel.
A Quarterly Maqnzine, owned atxl eUite't by .V. L. Selnon,
Professor of Etiylislt, Itriyham Young Unitemity. Price.
$1.00 a year; tingle copies, -tor. Knteved in the Postoj/ice at
Provo Lily, Utah, as seeond-rlas* matter.
Vol. I.
1'rovo City, Utah, October 1, IHM.
No. 4
A ROUNDELAY OF SALT LAKE.*
BY JOAQUIN MILLER, IN THE SAN FRAN-
CISCO "'bulletin/'
Beneath our forty stars is she
The purest woman, sweetest, best.
Who ioves her spouse most ardently
And rocks the cradle oftenest;
Whose home is filled, whose heart Is fed
With halo of a baby's head.
How pitiful that we must pay
And pension man for killing- man,
While woman brings forth as she may.
Unpaid, unpensioned, as she can;
Gives life while man takes life away.
Gives life, gives love because she must.
How sad that we must pension, pay
•During President Roosevelt's western trip,
the various cities endeavored to out-do each
other in honoring the distinguished guest. The
women of Salt Lake City greeted the nation's
chief with thousands of babes in their arms.
The pink- faced infants cooed a welcome that
must have filled his big heart with Joy; and
doubtless had be been called upon to decide
which city had pleased him most he would have
given the palm to Zion. In an address some
time previous the President had expressed re-
gret that the old-fashioned prolific American
mother was becoming a thing of the past; and
this it was which suggested to the Salt Lake
mothers their unusual welcome.
294 The Mormon Point of View.
Our tallest, bravest and our best
For killing brave men, east or west.
Until our race is in the dust,
As Greece is in the dust to-day;
A tomb of glory gone away.
I say the mothers of strong men.
Strong men and merry men and tall,
Must build, must man the Spartan wall
And keep it stoutlv manned as when
Greece won the world, nor wrecked at all.
I say that she must man the wall.
The wall of breasts, unshielded, bare,
The wall to do, the wall to dare,
The wall of men, or we must fall.
I say that she, strong-limbed and fair,
Deserves the pay, the pension, care.
Of all brave, heartfelt welcomes found
Where flowers strew the fragrant ground
And rainbow banners fret the air
By city, hamlet, anywhere.
In Midland, Southland, Northland, West,
I reckon Utah's first and best.
Not guns to greet the nation's chief,
Not trumpets blaring to the sun.
Not scars of glory and of grief.
Not thrice told tales of battles fought,
Not seas of flowers at his feet,
Not bold to glitter and to greet,
But Utah brought her babes, and brought
Not one babe fretted or afraid.
Not one that cried or wailed, not one.
Oh, what to this the booming gun?
Oh, what to this the loud parade?
Proud troop to troop poured manifold
In battle banners rampt with gold?
Just babies, babies, healthful, fair.
From where the Wasatch lion leaps,
From sunless snows, from desert deeps.
Just babies, babies, everywhere;
Just babes in arms, at mother's breast.
And robust boys with girls at play,
With pounding fists, too full to rest;
As chubby, fat, as fair as they.
Roundelay of Salt Lake. 295
296 The Mormon Point of View.
Behold you seas of alkali.
Of sand, of salt, of dried up seas.
Then shelter by these watered trees
And humbly dare to question why
These countless babes, these mothers, aye,
The maid in love, the lad at play.
All seem so gladsome, bright and gay?
Who tented here, who brake the sod,
Subdued the Artemisia's strength
With patient Ruth at ready call?
Who faced the red man at arm's length
And she beside him first to fall,
And while he prayed the living God?
Who gat such babes as never man
Had looked upon since time began?
And why? Because the loving sire
Loved life and hated low desire;
He loved his babes, he loved his kind
By desert waste of mountain wind;
He watched his happy babes at play
The while he gloried, glad as they.
This John the Baptist, naked, lean,
Lorn, crying in the wilderness.
This half fanatic, Luther, Huss,
Whom we once mocked in his distress,
Stands better than the best of us;
Stands nearer Jesus, God, because
He loves His babes, obeys His laws —
Becuase his hands, his feet are clean;
Because he loves his hearth, his home,
And patient heaps the honeycomb.
Behold yon million desert miles
With scarce a plow, with scant a tree,
Save where this desert garden smiles
And robust babes leap merrily I
Behold our boundless seas, as chare
Of sails as yonder peaks are bare!
Tea. give us babes at home, where now
Ye hide and house on every street
Such things as 'twere a shame to meet —
Glad babes to build and guide the prow.
Possess the isles, protect and bear
The star-built banner here — or there!
Till then, hands off, my Pharisee,
And tend your own affairs, as they,
Of Utah tend their own to-day.
Lest from the mouths of babes ye be
Condemned and damned eternally!
Then give us babes, babes of your own,
My meddling congressmen and men
Of cloth, with great brains In the chin;
Glad babes like these to plow the seas.
Strong babes like these to plow or spin.
And let this Bedouin alone
298 The Mormon Point of View.
FOR CONSCIENCE SAKE.*
A Christmas Story.
A shadow hung over the little farm. In-
stead of the usual sounds of song and
laughter there was silence. All went about
their work sadly.
John Trueman, as was his custom, sup-
erintended the chores ; but there was a sign
of suppressed emotion, even in his strong
face. His lips were drawn firmly to-
gether and ever now and then his
hand trembled and impulsively his fist
doubled tightly. He was evidently endur-
ing a severe mental struggle. His voice
•This story was written by a young lady
In one of my English classes In the Brigham
Young University. I had encouraged her to
enter the contest for a certain prize Christmas
story, and when she asked me to suggest plot
and atmosphere, I told her to draw upon the
experiences of her own admirable home. That
she has done so, accounts for the charming
flavor of real life running through it. Not
winning the prize, it is, by the author's per-
mission, published here, and with a two-fold
purpose: first, to supplement the leading ar-
ticle of this number by an aspect of Mormon
family life purposely left out of consideration
In that article in view of this story; and, sec-
ondly, to indicate that no true Latter-day Saint
Is ashamed of a past social relation which has
given to Mormondom many of its noblest and
brightest men and women of today.
was subdued, but there was a perceptible
tremor in it, as now and then he directed
the boys about their work. Few words were
spoken but each face told that something
had happened.
"It's a cussed shame," muttered Harry,
as he climbed into the great loft to pitch
down some hay.
"The dogs!" said Charley to Frank as
they sat milking cows in adjoining stalls.
"The scoundrels! It's an outrage on an in-
nocent man."
"You mustn't blame the officers," replied
his brother. They are only doing their
duty. Blame the law."
"Yes, a fine law it is that won't let a man
live quietly with his family, without being
hunted down like a cur and thrown into
prison. It's an outrage beneath the lowest
savage."
"Wish I was a man," chipped in little
Ned, who was holding Brock's tail while
Charley milked. "You bet I'd show 'em
how to take my Papa to prison. Say, don't
you wish old Gray had got drowned that
time he fell in the creek when he was hunt-
ing for Papa last summer?"
"Hush ! my child, You must not talk that
For Conscience Sake.
299
way," said the father who overheard the
last remark.
"Boys, are you about through ? Harry,
you better go and see that the cellar is well
covered. It's going to be a cold night.
Frank, did you give Blossom plenty of
grain? If you are through milking, you
better put the blanket on her. Lock the
barn doors, Charley, and be sure to fasten
the gates. I'll take the milK and go on to
the house. Ned, can you bring the lant-
ern?"
In the farm-house the same gloomy spirit
prevailed. Emily and Clara prepared the
supper in silence ; Maud sat looking out of
the window, her book lying unopened in her
lap ; noisy little Mary was silent ; Sadie
walked slowly up and down the floor with
the baby ; the younger children, Fanny
Alice, Tom and Bob, sat in their little
chairs, their heads on their hands, gazing
earnestly into the bright fire.
Aunt Mary was in the bath-room sort-
ing over the clean linen, while in an ad-
joining bed-room, Aunt Helen bent over
the cradle of little sick Theron. Aunt
Maggie passed quietly from room to room
seeing to things in general : now filling the
300 The Mormon Point of View.
.tea-kettle or scalding pans ; now taking
medicine or hot flannels into the sick-room.
They were all sad and thoughtful. Now
and then the tears tickled clown Aunt
Helen's cheeks and on to little Theron's
pillow.
Once Mary, with eyes flashing indignant-
ly,, said, "It's a shame! It's a mean, wicked
shame !" and she gave the open fire a vig-
orous punch with the tongs.
Little Tom, who had leaned his head
against the mantle-piece and gone to sleep,
started at the unusual tones, and rubbing
his eye said, "Say Bob, do you think they's
any bears in prison ?"
"What ivill we do without him?" asked
Emily, and then even Aunt Maggie's lips
trembled. Presently Brother Trueman
came into the house. He set the milk on
the bench, went out to the spout to wash
his hands, then stepped softly into the sick
room. Kissing Aunt Helen and kneeling
down by the cradle, he took the little fev-
erish hand and said :
"Papa's little man is better to-night, isn't
he?" and the little sufferer looked up
brightly at the sound of the familiar voice.
"Papa, when tin I see Toby?" asked the
baby.
For Conscience Sake.
301
30! The Mormon Point of View.
"I hope it won't be long, my pet. Toby
is lonesome without Theron."
"Me 'oves Toby and you an' Mama."
Just then Aunt Maggie came in and lay-
ing one hand on her husband's shoulder
and the other on the head of the younger
wife, said,
"Now, Helen, you and John go into sup-
per and I'll stay with baby."
As has been already intimated John
Trueman was a polygamist. He lived on
a comfortable farm, a few miles from O —
in Southern Utah. His was one of those
large families that lived in perfect har-
mony. He had three wives and fifteen
children, and they were bound by the
strongest ties of love and unity.
John Trueman was a plain man in ap-
pearance and manners, but he had a strong
wholesome character, was a sincere Latter-
day Saint, and an affectionate husband and
father. He held duty and honor as the two
guiding stars of his life.
Just now he was facing a circumstance
that gave his character the severest test.
Like so many of his brave and noble breth-
ren, he had for years been persecuted, by
what seemed to him, a cruel, unjust law:
For Conscience Sake.
303
at Deputy Gray who had just entered the
parlor.
The two men had been on one of their
raids in Southern Utah and were staying
over night in a hotel at O — . Gray was as
vile a character, as the scum of the Mor-
mon-haters could produce. Strong was a
lawyer, honest and fair-minded, who not
thriving in his profession, had accepted the
office of deputv U. S. Marshal, during the
period known as the Raid. It was through
Strong's influence that John Trueman had
been given a few days' grace, owing to the
sickness of his child, and had been left to
report on his word of honor.
"What's up?" repeated Gray.
"Well, I'm afraid he's going to skip to-
night. Donald reports some suspicious
movements. This morning one of
Trueman's boys came tearing up to the
Bishop's on that fast horse of theirs, and
Don saw them hold an excited council.
Then the kid hurried back to the farm.
You know Ashby is no friend of ours, and
I'm dead sure something's in the wind."
"No, Grav, John Trueman, Mormon or
not, is a man of his word," answered
Strong.
and now for having been a man true to his
family, he was, like some wretched crimi-
nal to be thrown into prison.
Late in the afternoon on the day our
story opens, he had been arrested and was
to leave home in just four days for an in-
definite period of incarceration. He was
willing to suffer for conscience sake, as so
many of his brethren were doing, but just
now the condition seemed doubly hard. His
oldest son was on a mission to England,
and Harry, the next, was somewhat wild
and reckless, knowing little of responsi-
bility. Baby Theron lay suffering with ty-
phoid, and some of the other children were
just at an age when they most needed a
father's counsel and guidance. His heart
ached when he thought of leaving them, —
perhaps for years ; but he had accepted his
cross bravely and looked to God for
strength and comfort.
II.
"Judge, I'm afraid you've made a devil
of a mess of that Trueman affair."
"Why, what's up now?" asked Philip
Strong, looking over the top of his paper
304 The Mormon Point of View.
"I'm not so sure. These 'cohabs' are
d — d tricky cusses. I wish we hadn't
been so easy with him. But here comes
Donald. Any more news ?"
The new-comer, a recent law graduate,
was on a visit to Judge Strong's and had
accompanied the officers just to "see the
Mormons in their dens." Seating himself
and stretching his legs before the open
grate he answered :
"The kid's dead. Died in the night, so
I heard a man say in the store."
"He'll sure slope before morning then,"
resumed Gray.
"/ say, he will keep his word. Besides,
do you think he would miss his baby's
funeral?" asked Strong.
"Any how, I think it would be safer to
look around a little to-night. We can't be
sure of that kind of game till they're under
lock and key."
Deputy Gray then seated himself, light-
ed a cigar and having gazed a few moments
at the burning logs, broke into a fit of
laughter. His companions looked up in-
quiringly. "And so, Don, you've lost
your heart to the little Mormon gal?
Oh, you're on to your job, alright. Just
For Conscience Sake.
305
help us get the old man out of the way and
then steal the girl. Ha ! ha ! ha ! the nephew
of Judge Strong in love with a polygamist's
daughter !"
"Who said I was in love with her?" re-
torted the young man testily. "I simply
passed my opinion that — what did you say
her name is? — was a deucedly pretty girl
and that it was a cussed shame she was in
such a family."
"Don't be too free and easy with Mor-
mon girls, young man" counseled the
Judge. "These people are rather fanatical
about Gentiles, and it might not be safe to
play the gay, young Lothario, here."
"Much obliged for your advice, uncle;
but you just watch me take care of my-
self — and her, too, if I want to."
The probability that John Trueman
would give the officers the slip was then
discussed at length, and it was decided to
be on hand that night at the ranch, should
he attempt to do so.
**********
The word brought to the village store
had been only too true. Little Theron,
growing worse and worse in spite of the
loving hearts and anxious faces around
For Conscience Sake.
307
What a picture they make — those true
women elapsed in each other's arms at the
head of the dead child.
"Helen, there are things worse than
death, things in comparison with which
death seems sweet. Do not grieve, he is
happy. See how peaceful he looks. Do not
make him unhappy by your sorrow."
Thus did one unselfish woman, made
noble and strong by a life of daily self-
sacrifice, console another, younger and less
experienced.
How slowly that sad night passed. The
great clock in the dining-room solemnly
ticked the weary hours away, and at last
morning dawned. But how lonely and
quiet it seemed.
Friends came to the farm to help prepare
the little one for burial and about four
o'clock in the afternoon a quiet funeral was
held.
How beautiful the choir sang,
"Your sweet little rose-bud has left you,
To bloom in a holier sphere."
And how soothing were the words of
hope and comfort which fell from the lips
of dear Bishop Ashby and kind old Broth-
er Adams.
306 The Mormon Point of View.
him, died about one o'clock the night be-
fore.
Aunt Helen was heart-broken. Was
this her babe, her beautiful darling? And
would she never more hear the prattle
of his little tongue; never more feel the
soft pressure of his little arms about her
neck or his rosy cheeks against her own?
For a time she refused to be comforted.
Like all young mothers enduring their first
great sorrow, she forgot that other souls
have suffered.
Aunt Maggie and Aunt Mary laid out
the cold little form in the parlor, and had
scarcely finished their gentle service when
the grief-striken mother entered the room,
supported on the arm of her. husband.
Raising her sad eyes and meeting the
gentle sympathetic condolence of the older
women, Helen seemed to realize for the
first time that other hearts had throbbed
and bled as her own was doing now. Her
heart melted with sudden love at the sight
of this unobtrusive sympathy; for what
bond is so strong as that between mothers
who have suffered kindred sorrows?
"John," said Aunt Maggie, who in the
days long ago had also lost her first born,
"leave us alone, dear."
308 The Mormon Point of View.
But after little Theron had been laid in
the frosty ground, and they had returned
home, the house seemed more still and
dreary than before, every one saw how
lonesome the little cradle looked.
*****
It had hardly grown dusk when three
men moved cautiously along a wild hedge
near John Trueman's barn.
"They must have done their chores,"
whispered Gray. "I don't see any of them
around."
"Hush! there he comes now."
Slowly and with bowed head, John True-
man made his way toward the barn. In
one corner of ' , — corral stood a fine mare,
which neighed at his approach. Behind
her was a half-grown colt, which came up
to him to be petted.
"Toby, Toby," said the man brokenly,
putting his arm around the colt's neck, "did
you know your little master is gone? He
will never pet you again. Will you miss
him too, Toby ? O my baby !" and the
strong man broke down and wept.
"Let's go," whispered one of the dep-
uties. "We are not needed in such a place."
"We can't now," responded Gray, "and
For Conscience Sake.
309
310 The Mormon Point of View.
besides, I'm not so sure that there won't
be something doing yet."
When John Trueman returned to the
house, the traces of his dark hour alone
were gone, and he was prepared for the
consolation and counsel which he felt he
must give to his family on the eve of his
departure.
What a picture they make there in the
ruddy firelight, sad and thoughtful, under
the great trials that hang over them. The
younger children have been put to bed. Let
us glance, individually at the members of
this sacred family council.
To begin with, there are the wives:
Aunt Maggie the first, so good and noble,
beloved as a mother by all the children.
Her hair is streaked with gray and there
are lines of care and sorrow on her calm
brow, but her face still has that sweet ex-
pression — so full of love and kindness for
everybody, — that has made her the friend
to whom they all take their troubles. Aunt
Mary is sweet-tempered and quiet, a good
mother and a loving wife. Aunt Helen
is young and beautiful. She still has many
of her girlish ways and leans upon the older
women with a confiding, beautiful simplic-
ity.
For Conscience Sake.
311
greatest pleasure in books. She is loving
and lovable, and her simplicity and sweet-
ness have made her the pet of the family.
She has just turned sweet sixteen and
gives promise of a nature which, when fully
developed, will be capable of the most in-
tense emotions.
Nor are we the only spectators of this
sacred family reunion. Crouched by a low
window on the east side of the dining-
room, the officers, accompanied by Donald
Lester, have looked in repeatedly and then
at last been held as by a spell of strange
fascination, listening to the words of love
and comfort which are spoken from heart
to heart. Gray still clings to his view and
the trio remain to demonstrate whether or
not he is wrong.
At last the hour has come to retire. The
family Bible is taken from the shelf and a
chapter is read by Emily. Then they all
kneel down together. Though their trials
are heavy, it is a grateful prayer that as-
cends to the Father's throne.
The words of devotion come to the lis-
teners outside. With a sympathy, child'
like in its directness, that servant of God
renders thanks for past mercies, and for
the present blessings and privileges.
Then there is Emily, whose gentle face
tells of patient resignation to suffering and
disappointment. She is the 'old maid' sis-
ter, Aunt Martha's girl, and Aunt Martha
has been dead for years. The older children
have a faint remembrance of a lover who
went away in the days gone by, but that is
all. They know there is something sad
about the story and have learned not to
mention it as it always brings a look of
pain to Emily's face.
Next is Harry, good-looking and jolly,
though considered by some of the neighbors
a little rough.
Then there is Frank, staid and trusty,
his father's right-hand man; and Charley,
about the same age, energetic, but very
quick-tempered.
Next comes Clara, always so womanly
and quiet. She is to be married in the
spring to Dick Ashby, die Bishop's son.
Then there is rollicking, fun-loving
Mary, whose black eyes are always danc-
ing with pent-up mischief. She is almost
seventeen now, but enjoys as much as ever
a good romp on the hills in the summer,
or a snow-ball fight in the winter.
Maud, the prettiest daughter, finds her
312 The Mormon Point of View.
They hear him plead with a touching fer-
vor, for the Father's watchcare over
his familv during his absence. He asks
that their needs be supplied and their hearts
cheered.
How earnestly he pleads for his grief-
stricken wife, that she may be comforted
and strengthened. Here a sob reaches the
ears of the men outside and even Gray
seems to be swallowing something hard.
The father prays for his absent son that
he may always be guided aright and re-
turn home in safety.
Most earnestlv he pleads for his children
at home; that they may be strong against
temptation.
He asks for strength to bear his own
great trial; for wisdom and fortitude.
"Come, I can't stand this any longer,"
said Strong rising from his cramped posi-
tion. "Let's go."
"It is a d — d low business we're in," said
Gray as they walked slowly toward the
village. "I never felt so much like a cur
in my life."
For a while Donald Lester was silent.
Then his thoughts found their own utter-
ance.
For Conscience Sake.
313
"By Jove, that girl is an angel — let her
be what she will — Mormon or Gentile.
Did you ever see such eyes!"
III.
Two years have passed since John True-
man went to prison. There have been many
changes in the family at home.
Clara is married and has a little home of
her own.
Aunt Helen has become somewhat re-
conciled to Theron's death and is teaching
school in O — . She stays with Clara in town,
but comes home every Friday evening to
visit with the folks.
Quick-tempered Charley has left home.
He couldn't agree with the other boys and
just before the last 4th of July, he ran
away. Aunt Maggie has aged very much
since then, and though she tries hard to
keep up her spirits, there is something
touching in her very cheerfulness.
Harry has surprised everybody. As the
head of the family, he has accepted his re-
sponsibility like a man.
It is the evening before Thanksgiving.
The people of O. are preparing for a great
public feast.
For Conscience Sake.
315
"I say, sit down and listen. You must
act discreetly."
Well, go on," and the impetuous boy
tried hard to control himself.
"As soon as I was over my first shock,
I hurried in the direction they had gone,
and saw them go into the grove by the old
schoolhouse. I couldn't make up my mind
to go and try to get Maud, nor could I
leave her there with him, so I just stood and
listened and, Harry, tomorrow night they
are going to run away."
"The black-guard ! I'll shoot him this
time, sure," and he sprang again to his feet,
white and trembling with rage. "Where is
the dogf
"Harry, Harry, listen to me," pleaded
his sister. "You have failed once with
Maud. Perhaps it was your sternness that
led her to this step. Let me try this time.
Let us see what love and kindnes can do.
I felt that I must tell someone, and I knew
it would almost kill Aunt Maggie, so I
told you, and you must help me, brother. I
will talk to her tonight,, and, O Harry, we
will pray and hope. O, how I wish Papa
were here !"
314 The Mormon Point of View.
Darkness is just falling as Emily.who has
been to town working on the committee, re-
turns home. She at once calls Harry out
onto the front porch and makes room for
him to sit beside her on the step. She sits so
long, staring blankly into space that at last
Harry breaks the silence.
"Well, Emily, what is it?"
"Harry," she answers, "I want to talk
with you about a very particular matter.
There is something you must help me do.
You can not do it alone nor can I, but we
must do it.'
"Well?"
"Do you know where Maud is?"
"Why, no. Is anything the matter?"
"Listen, brother: Tonight just when we
had finished decorating the hall and I was
takin? Sister Jones' hammer home, I saw
Maud turn the corner with a strange man.
Harry, it was Mr. Lester."
"What, that d — d scoundrel back again?"
and Harry sprang to his feet, clenching his
fists.
"Harry," said his sister taking hold of
the young man's arm, "sit down and listen,
for we must do something."
"Do something! Where is the rascal?"
316 The Mormon Point of View.
"Hush, there comes Maud. Remember
not a word now."
That night when the house was still,
Emily stole softly to the door of Maud's
and Mary's room.
"Maudie," she whispered.
"What do you want?" was the answer
with a slight tremor that told the girl had
not yet been asleep.
"Come into my room, will you, dearie?
I want to tell you something."
When they were seated alone, Emily be-
gan,
"Maudie, I want to tell you a story — the
story of my own life. I was not always
the quiet old maid that I am today. Once
I was young, and some of my friends said,
pretty. I had a lover then, sister, and I
loved my Will with all the devotion of my
young heart.
"He was handsome and bright and full
of ambition. We were to be married in
the fall and were going to California for
a while, where Will would work for his
uncle.
"How happy I was that summer prepar-
ing for my wedding! I used to sit sewing
For Conscience Sake.
317
318 The Mormon Point of View.
and singing all day long, with mother and
Bessie helping me.
"It seemed that mother could hardly bear
the thought of my going away. Often when
I sat building castles for the future, her
dear eyes would fill with tears and her
sweet lips tremble. But I was so wrapped
up in my own love and happiness that I
forgot all else.
"It was just three weeks till we were to
be married, when one day mother fell from
a chair on which she had tried to reach a
high self. The fall hurt her back and she
never walked again. Day after day she
grew weaker; and when the doctor told us
she would never get well, it almost broke
our hearts.
"And then the day she died, — I shall
never forget it. It was one of those golden
Autumn afternoons. The sun shone in
mellow streams through the curtains on her
sweet pale face. Father, Bessie and I were
in her room. She asked papa to raise her
in his arms while she talked to us. Little
Bessie and I knelt beside the bed. She put
a hand on each of our heads and said with
voice as sweet as an angel's.
" 'My darling, your mama is going to
For Conscience Sake.
319
that I had never known before, and I re-
solved to do my duty.
"Time passed. Aunt Maggie came down
from G — to live with us. I did not try
to like her nor her children — my own little
brothers and sisters. I was too selfish in
my sorrow. I lived only for Bessie and
Will ; but then came the most cruel test of
all.
"About a month after mother's death,
Will wished to be married. He said he had
sent word to his uncle and must go. What
could I do ? I loved him dearly, but I could
not leave Bessie. She would die without
me, she was so fragile and tender.
" 'O Will,' I pleaded, 'let us wait a little
while. I cannot go now and leave Bessie,
or else let us marry and settle down here.'
" 'You do not love me, Emily,' was Will's
answer ; and then. I hardly know how it
happened, but we had a bitter quarrel. He
was young and proud, and within a week
left home. I have never seen him since.
"I thought he loved me and would come
back—"
The girl paused to get control of her
voice. Maud impulsively threw her arms
around her older sister and wept with her.
leave you; but do not grieve, for I shall be
up there with the angels and wait for my
loved ones to come. You must try to be a
comfort to papa, and make your lives good
and happy.'
"Then she took my face between her two
white hands and said, 'Little girl, I want
you always to be happy, but, remember, I
leave little Bessie to you, and you must take
mama's place. Do what you know is your
duty and God will always be with you.'
"As she put her arms around little crip-
pled sister, the tears welled into her dying
eyes, it seemed she could not bear to leave
this tender little flower behind her.
" 'O mama, mama, I want to go, too,"
sobbed Bessie.
"Mama looked at me. T will remember,
mama,' I said, and with a smile that I
shall never forget, she leaned her head on
papa's shoulder, and her spirit left us.
"This was the first great trial we had
ever known. Papa sat so pale and still look-
ing at her sweet, white face. Little Bessie
clung to me and sobbed the whole long
night. I felt crushed, and yet there was
also a new feeling which came with moth-
er's dying smile, a feeling of responsibility
320 The Mormon Point of View.
"But he never came," resumed Emily in
a tone of resignation. "A few times I heard
of him in California; then learned that he
had gone to Europe, and so the only man
I ever loved went out of my life.
"Two months after this, little Bessie died,
and I was indeed a sad, sad girl. I shut
myself up in my grief and refused to be
comforted. Father was kind and loving,
and Aunt Maggie tried to be, but I would
not let her.
"Hour after hour I spent in the little
churchyard, praying to die; for what had
life in store for me now?
"One night after I had cried myself to
sleep, I had a dream of mother. A light
came into my room. It grew brighter and
brighter, and when I looked up, mother
was standing beside me. She was all white
and beautiful, but she looked down at me
with such a sweet, sad light in her great
blue eyes, that I knew she was grieved at
my sorrow. I wanted to speak, — I wanted
to go to her arms but could not. She looked
at me for some time, then turned and was
going away.
1 'O mama, mama, take me with you,'
I sobbed stretching out my arms. She came
For Conscience Sake.
321
322 The Mormon Point of View.
back to my bedside and bending over me
whispered the one word 'Duty.' Then she
kissed me and went away.
"I understood. There was a duty yet in
the world for me. Yes, mother, I would
find it.
"From that night I have been happy. I
have found many duties, — hard ones, too, —
but it seems that our angel mother is always
near to help me.
"Sister, it is by doing our duty that we
learn to live. Every one has some stern
duty — a test in life and, Maudie, I believe
yours is standing before you now."
Tears were streaming down the young
girl's cheeks.
"O Emily," she sobbed, "you mean
Donald."
"Yes, I mean Mr. Lester, Maud, and I
want to help you to see your duty," an-
swered the older sister.
"Let me tell you all about it, Emily. For
months my heart has been aching for some-
one to help bear its secret, but you all mis-
judged Donald so, that I dared not breathe
his name.
"When I first saw Donald, the time he
helped take papa, I hated him; but the
next Summer when I met him at Etta's and
he explained it all to me, how he was acting
against his will, I learned to respect him;
and then, O Emily, I can't tell you how it
came, but before I knew it I loved him
dearer than my life. He was so handsome
and cultivated, just like heroes in books,
and then to think he loved me — a simple
little country girl.
"I shall never forget the night he told
me of his love. We walked home from
town. It seemed that the brook sang sweet-
er, the moon shone brighter, and all earth
was dearer than ever before. We were
standing under the old apple-tree, and the
moon stole softly through the leaves, and
the air was sweet with the scent of the
blossoms. I remember the very light in his
large dark eyes as he took me in his arms
and kissed me and told me that I was
dearer than the world to him.
"I think no one was ever so happy as
I. I could not sleep, but lay looking at
the great white moon that peeped in at my
window, saying over and over in my heart,
'He loves me! he loves me!'
"You will remember what happened the
next day; how Harry came in and com-
For Conscience Sake.
323
manded me never to think of that villain
again; said he would shoot him if he ever
came back, and called him all the low down
things he could think of. O, sister, it
seemed like my life was crushed. I had
not a friend in the world to soothe my
bleeding heart. You were all of you bitter,
bitter cruel! And then when Donald wrote
and told me how he had been wronged, and
begged me still to love him, do you wonder
that my love grew stronger? He was the
only friend in the world who could under-
stand me.
"And now he wants me to go with him,
to his home. Of course I know it would be
wrong to do as we have planned. It would
break mama's heart and poor papa in pris-
on, what would he do? But I didn't
think of that. I knew that when you once
know Donald you will all love him ; and I
thought we could come back after awhile,
and it would be all right. Donald has prom-
ised to study the Gospel, too, and I feel sure
he will join the Church.
"But, Emily, you have shown me that I
have a duty and I will do it. Of course,
I won't need to give Donald up; none of
you would have me do that, if you knew
324 The Mormon Point of View.
him ; but I will explain it all to him, and
we will wait till he is better understood."
"Don't you think I had better explain
it to him," suggested Emily. "You see he
might think differently about it, and it
would be harder for you."
"O no; I couldn't think of such a thing.
You need not fear. He loves me so dearly
and is such a gentleman, I'm sure he will
see it is for the best when I explain it all
to him."
"Very well, dear. Trust in your Heav-
enly Father, and I will pray for you, too.
Now you had better go to bed."
And with Emily's tender kiss upon her
lips, Maud was soon in dreamland. Ah,
unsuspecting heart, little do you dream of
the snare that lies before you !
IV.
It is Thanksgiving evening. John True-
man is sitting in his dimly lighted cell try-
ing to read his Bible. But somehow his
mind presists in turning homward. He
wonders what they are all doing tonight.
He pictures his dear ones, his wives and
children ; the young people are perhaps
now preparing for the dance in town.
He sees the boys bustling around. They
For Conscience Sake.
325
326 The Mormon Point of View.
must be ready early to go for their partners.
The group is not complete. There is a
twinge at his heart strings as he wonders
where Charley is tonight.
Then there are the girls: Mary, jolly
as ever, teasing Sadie who has promised to
go with Dill Thomson ; Emily, busy as us-
ual helping the others; now tying a sash
for Sadie, next adjusting a ribbon for Mary,
or combing Maud's hair.
The man's face begins to glow with the
picture. Yes, there is Maud his prettiest
daughter. How beautiful she looks tonight,,
her dark eyes are bright and clear and
the pink of her cheek is deeper than usual.
As this detail flashes acros his mind, sud-
denly the familiar room, in the old home
fades away and there stands Maud alone.
Before her, and scarcely a step away,
yearns a deep, dark chasm. There is a wild,
uncertain look in her eyes, yet she does not
seem to see her danger. So vivid is the vis-
ion that he gives a sudden cry of alarm,
and the picture vanishes.
Long he sits there pale and trembling.
What can it mean? He tries to analyze
the feeling. He reads his last letters from
home. There is nothing unusual in them.
For Conscience Sake.
32T
Harry, Dick, Mary, and Sadie are decor-
ating the long dining-room, with ever-
greens and the mistletoe that grows so
abundantlv on these southern hills. Alice,
Fanny, Tom, and Bob are making bright
chains and popcorn strings for the tree,
while Aunt Mary, Aunt Maggie, Emily,
and Clara are busy in the kitchen.
And what rows and rows of pies, cakes,
puddings, and cookies are being stored
away! There are panfuls of horses, ele-
phants, and soldiers; also some well-
browned Santa Clauses with great packs
on their backs, — for what would Christmas
be without these?
Maud is still kept in the invalid's chair,
yet she is helping Aunt Helen with some
mysterious work in the bedroom. Harry
has brought two great boxes from town
and carried them in ; but the door is always
closed with such precaution, that the chil-
dren would give almost anything to get
just a peep inside.
"Here, Dick, that mistletoe isn't in the
middle," said Mary.
"Now, Miss Prim, I'd like to know who's
doing this? I guess if George catches you
under it, it won't make much difference
Perhaps it is nothing but fancy after all;
and so thinking he goes to bed.
But he has been asleep only a little while
when suddenly he starts up. There before
him in the dark cell is that terrible picture
again — MauH alone, by that awful pit.
A dreadful foreboding now comes over
him. He springs from his bed, and kneel-
ing on the cold stones, pours out his soul
to God for the protection of his loved one.
Still that heavy dread. He prays again
for an assurance of his darling's welfare,
and as thus he kneels, he feels his spirit
leave his body, which falls senseless on the
hard floor.
V.
How busy they all are on the little farm.
It is the day before Christmas and Father
and James will be home tonight. What a
jolly time they will have ! Harry and Nellie
have decided to be married on Christmas
day, so there are more preparations to be
■made than usual.
On Christmas-Eve, however, they will
have a good old family party. Frank and
Ned have brought home the Christmas-tree
and are fixing it up in the parlor.
328 The Mormon Point of View.
whether it's straight or not. It will serve
the same purpose won't it, sis?" answered
her brother-in-law, pinching her cheek
teasingly.
"Now, Dick, behave yourself. I don't
see how Clara ever stands such a torment."
'I wonder what surprise James has for
us? I can't imagine what it can be," said
Harry. "If it wasn't for Grace, I'd think
he was bringing a wife home."
"Perhaps he hasn't heard of Nellie, and is
bringing one for his brother," suggested
Mary with a shy wink.
"Do you think papa will know where to
come?" asked Tom. "I bet he'll git lost on
that new road you fellers made up by the
four acres. Hadn't me an' Bob better go
up an' wait for 'em, so we can show 'em
which way to come?"
"I's a doin' to show papa the ittle 'ams,"
declared baby Rose.
"No you're not! They're mine and I've
got a right to show 'em," said Bob.
"I'll show 'im the tittens, anyhow," per-
sisted the little miss nodding her curls.
"Isn't it about time they were coming?"
Aunt Helen went to the window for the
For Conscience Sake.
329
fortieth time. "It's almost four o'clock,
and it's beginning to snow again."
"Oh, here's George and Nellie and
Grace." Sleigh bells were heard coming up
the road, and Mary hurried away to receive
the guests.
The afternoon passed and evening came,
but still papa and the missionary had not
arrived. The fire was roaring and crack-
ling up the great chimney. The children
were popping corn, while Emily told them
the old sweet story of the babe in the man-
ger.
Maud, pale and pinched from her long
sickness, sat in the warm firelight, her head
leaning back on the cushions. Her eyes
were closed, yet there was a firmness
around her delicate mouth, that told of a
lesson in self-denial well learned; an ex-
pression possessed only by those who have
been strengthened and fortified by victory
in a great conflict with self.
Grace sat with folded hands gazing
thoughtfully into the fire, dreaming no
doubt of the lover she was soon to meet.
Mary and George were together in the
bay-window while Harry and Nellie sat
For Conscience Sake.
331
den sorrow, for their older sister. Indeed,,
no surprise could have been more grateful
to this bevy of boys and girls just in the
age of romance. Maud cried outright in
the fulness of her joy.
"Yes, my boy, take her," said John True-
man, crossing over to where the reunited
lovers stood. "All these years she has wait-
ed for you."
"It has all been a cruel mistake," said
Will Burton looking fondly into Emily's-
glowing face. "I heard you were married
to Jack Kelsey, — you know you used to go
out with him — and didn't learn that it was
your cousin Eve, until I met James at the
mission headquarters in London."
A little later when the first excitement
had somewhat died away, and they were
all seated around the fire, Brother True-
man laid his hand affectionately on Maud's
head. She looked up with such a beautiful
light in her eyes and said,
"O Papa, it was you who saved me. I
wanted to do right, after Emily had shown
me my duty, but, Papa, I was just yielding,
I was just going to tell him I would go,,
when I felt a strong arm draw me back,,
and looking up I saw you standing by me.
330 The Mormon Point of View.
on the sofa in the chimney corner, planning
for the future.
The wives, with Clara, Dick, and Frank,
were in the parlor finishing the tree.
Why didn't they come? It was almost
eight o'clock and still snowing. Could
anything have happened? Each tried to
suppress his excitement, but that was get-
ting to be impossible.
Hark! Old Tige gives a sharp bark and
bounds from the porch. There is a sound
of wheels. They stop. There are heavy
stamps upon the step. A dozen hands rush
to open the door and in one instant, father
and son are surrounded by loved ones.
When the first excitement had passed,
James put his arms around Emily and drew
her towards a tall stranger who stood un-
observed in the doorway.
"Here is my surprise," said he,and twenty
eager glances were turned in that direction.
For one moment Emily stared at the
visitor and then with a look of joy cried,
"Will!" and was clasped in the stranger's
arms.
"Oh, I'm so glad," said Mary throw-
ing her arms around Grace. For years their
heart had ached in sympathy with the hid-
332 The Mormon Point of View.
"I wasn't afraid, but felt so good and
strong. Then I told him, Papa, that I would
not go, and the look he gave me revealed
his character. With an awful oath, he
turned and left me, and I fell fainting to
the ground, where I lay till Emily came and
found me there."
"Sister," said Emily, "you didn't know
how Harry and I stood near, watching, and
praying for you, nor how hard it was for
Harry to restrain his impulse to seize the
villain by the throat, nor how at last he con-
quered himself and followed Lester to town
and made him start for the depot that
night, with the warning never to show his
face in this country again."
Then the father told of that night when
his spirit left his bodv ; and while he could
not remember anything that happened, yet
when he came to himself, he was filled with
a strange feeling of peace and joy.
How shall I describe the mirth and hi-
larity which rang out along the happy lines
of that long table — the welcoming home
of the father and son, husband and brother;
the merry jokes hinging on associations
past, present and to come, — allusions that
For Conscience Sake.
333
334 The Mormon Point of View.
brought the warm flood of life to the cheek,
the sparkle of joy to the eye!
There was only one face in that joyous
group which needed to feign a look of glad-
ness. Nobly did Aunt Maggie sustain her
difficult part. And when she withdrew
it was under cover of serving the rest.
But John Trueman saw her go and knew
the reason. As soon as he could do so he
joined her in the parlor. There they stood
lovers as of old, ready to share once more
each other's sorrows, even on this long
looked for night of joy.
''Don't grieve too much, Margaret. Let us
believe that the Lord is watching over him
and will bring him back to us."
"I can't help it, John. He was our
youngest — and — and — 1 know the Lord is
good, but — O John, it's so good to have
you home — "
And the dear patient woman claimed once
more the old joy of weeping away her grief
on her husband's breast.
Before retiring that night the reunited
family sang that dear old hymn
"God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform."
And once more around the family altar they
poured out their thanks to God, for his
blessings ; nor did they forget to ask him to
protect the absent wanderer and guide him
safely home again.
What a sweet, holy influence filled that
home; the joy of Christmas tide was in
every heart.
As John Trueman stooped to kiss Maud
good-night, she put her arms around his
neck and whispered, "Papa, I, too, have
found the joy of suffering for conscience
sake." Eglantine.
THE MORMON FAMILY,
WHAT CONSTITUTES THE MORMON FAMILY.
"How many children have you ?" asked
a member of the Congressional committee.
"Forty-two," was the reply; "Twenty-
one boys and twenty-one girls, and I am
proud of every one of them."
No doubt the answer surprised and
amazed the grave and reverend seniors of
the senate, who silently drew comparisons
between such a family and their own empty,
or comparatively empty, mansions ; it cer-
tainly served to set the whole country agog
with astonishment and curiosity.
No incident, however, in the life of Pres-
ident Smith, — full of courageous precept
and example though that life has been, —
appeals more subtly to the pride of man-
hood and womanhood among Latter-day
Saints nor re-enforces more strongly their
sense of devotion to the most sacred duty
man can owe to God and the human race.
336 The Mormon Point of View.
President Smith's is one type of the Mor-
mon family — a type from which have come
some of the purest, noblest, and most force-
ful of the men and women now at the head
of affairs throughout Mormondom. But it
is not necessarily the type. However, be-
fore generalizing the characteristics which
constitute the essentials of the Mormon
family, it may be well to consider briefly
some of the notable examples.
In an interview published April 25, 1903,
in the Salt Lake Telegram, the following
facts and statistics were brought out re-
specting the family of Hon. Lorin Farr of
Ogden, Utah. Mr. Farr was born in Ver-
mont in 1820, and married his first wife,
Nancy Chase, in 1845 I ne married five other
wives, as follows: Sarah Giles, 185 1 ; Olive
A. Jones, 1852; Mary B. Freeman, 1854;
Nickaline Erickson, 1857; Clara J. Bates,
1901. The last named was 81 years of age
when he married her, and died without issue
the following year. She should not be
counted in the family for statistical pur-
poses, as she was probably merely sealed to
him in view of the life hereafter.
By his first wife President Farr had
twelve children, forty-six grandchildren
The Mormon Family.
337
and twenty-one great-grandchildren, or a
total of seventy-nine ; by his second wife he
had nine children, and fifty-one grand chil-
dren, or a total of sixty; by his third wife
he had seven children, and from three of
these, fifteen grandchildren, or a total of
twenty-two, three of the children having
died without issue; by his fourth wife he
had six children, and from four of these,
twenty-four grandchildren, or a total of
thirty, the issue of two children not being
known ; by his fifth wife he had six children
and twenty-eight grand children, or a total
of thirty-four, one son being unmarried at
the date of this interview.
Summing up these numbers it will be
seen that Lorin Farr, at the age of eighty-
three, had forty children — twenty sons and
twenty daughters and one hundred and
sixty-four grand children; as to great-
grandchildren, only the statistics of two or
three families were at hand, but the number
was estimated at fifty-six, making a total of
two hundred and fifty-eight descendants
during a little more than half a century.
Adding to this number the two hundred and
twenty-seven descendants of Aaron and
Winslow Farr, brothers of Lorin, it will be
The Mormon Family.
339
ly afterward without issue. The combined
descendants of the other three equal just
eighteen. That is to say three members of
the family, acting upon a worldly ideal, had
an average of six descendants each in two
generations ; the other, inspired by the Mor-
mon ideal, had forty-eight descendants. In
other words, she was eight times as fruit-
ful as they. What is still more significant,
is the fact that, while not wealthy, all her
descendants own their own homes, and are
well to do and thrifty, while the descend-
ants of the non-Mormon branches of the
family are perpetually in straightened cir-
cumstances.
The Cluff family presents another re-
markable example of fruitfulness. David
Cluff of New Hampshire and his wife, Bet-
sy Hall of Canada, reached Utah valley in
1850, with ten sons and one daughter. The
latter was the only one of the children mar-
ried and she had two children. Fifty years
later, that is, in 1900, a census was taken
and the number of descendants found to be
over six hundred. Most of the families
have been monogamous, there having been
only eight cases of plural marriage.
The original family, of whom David Cluff
338 The Mormon Point of View.
seen in what a practical way, these three
sturdy pioneers made the desert blossom
as the rose.
Another family illustrating the Mormon
ideal of family life is that of Nahum Cur-
tis, a descendant of the Mayflower colony,
who joined the church in 1833. He had
six sons and one daughter, three of whom
married after reaching Utah in 1850. Two
of the sons, George and Moses, and two of
the grandsons, lived in polygamy, each hav-
ing two wives. These are the only cases
of plural marriage in the family; and yet
when a census was taken one year ago, it
was found that there were 466 direct de-
scendants of Nahum Curtis still living.
An illustration of the effect of ideal upon
fruitfulness, occurs in connection with the
family of Emma Whaley who became the
first wife of George Curtis in 1850. She
bore her husband seven children, and these
have already increased to forty-one grand
children and great grand children, making
her descendants forty-eight. She had two
brothers and two sisters who also emigrat-
ed from England to America, attracted by
the desire to better their financial conditions.
One sister joined the church but died short-
340 The Mormon Point of View.
was a member, consisted of four girls and
five boys besides himself; yet the combined
descendants of all the other children, none
of whom accepted the Gospel, did not equal
ten per cent of David's descendants in 1900.
The monogamous families of the Church
will average in number of children just
about like the respective families of Presi-
dent Lorin Farr, above quoted ; viz., twelve,
nine, seven, and six. To be conservative,
however, let us put the number at from five
to twelve for each mother. The families
with fewer than five children will be found
almost as rare as the families with over
twelve.
I am speaking now of true Latter-day
Saints, those who conscientiously and fear-
lessly accept God's command, "Multiply and
replenish the earth." We have among us,
however, for the time being, families who
are wavering between the Mormon ideal
and that of Babylon, and others, — further
along in the process of sloughing, — who
have quite gone over to the followers of the
Malthusian ideal. But even allowing for
these, Mormonism presents a creditable
showing as compared with the rest of civ-
ilized mankind.
The Mormon Family.
341
Taking the United States as a sample of
the enlightened world — it really stands best
in the column of western nations so far as
'race suicide' is concerned — and the average
family is equal to five and one-half souls.
As against this, consider the status of the
average Mormon family, which is equal to,
seven souls. The comparison means simply
that in the world it takes two sets of parents
10 produce five children, while in Mormon-
dom this nummer is produced by one set.
The average Mormon parent is thus seen to
be twice as prolific as the average Gentile
parent.
What this shall signify in a wider social
sense, and during future ages, will be dis-
cussed later. Here let us abstract and gen-
eralize the essential facts respecting the
Mormon family. At first sight the central
fact would seem to be the begetting of chil-
dren ; as if salvation were somehow depend-
ent upon the number brought into the
world. Such a conclusion, however, would
be both true and untrue, according to the
point of view taken.
Paul in characterizing the Roman nation
as ripe for destruction, mentions among
many other sins that 'even their women did
The Mormon Family.
343
of lust which has descended upon him, as
upon the rest of mankind, from a thousand
unbridled ancestors. Increase in the num-
ber of children is the natural consequence
of such a course. For to the extent that he
and his wife succeeded in marital continen-
cy, to that extent is motherhood relieved of
obstacles to the fulfilling of God's com-
mand. If, therefore, Mormon women have
more children than non-Mormon, what is it
but indisputable proof that both they and
their husbands are more truly respecting
and honoring the 'natural use' of marital in-
tercourse?. What this fact means in its re-
action upon character will be seen in a later
chapter.
From another stand-point, however, it is
most true that Latter-day Saints welcome
children to the home ; and feel that the more
God sends to them the more are they
blessed. It is easy for the Mormon woman
to understand, from her religious point of
view, why the mother in Israel should have
felt so keenly the sense of reproach which
accompanied barrenness, and the sense of
joy and rejoicing which came to her when
God made her fruitful. But this aspect I
also reserve to treat elsewhere.
34a The Mormon Point of View.
change the natural use for that which is
against nature.' It may be asked, what is
the 'natural use' of the procreative relation-
ship between man and woman? There can
be but one answer — procreation. Any oth-
er use, at least to the extent that it inter-
feres with this natural function, is changing
the 'natural use of the woman for that which
is against nature.'
Mormonism recognizes the first divine
command given to Adam and Eve, "Be
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the
earth, and subdue it," as being still the fore-
most social law to mankind. Part of its
fulfillment is the begetting of children.
Motherhood is consequently looked upon as
the right and duty of every well-born wo-
man, and fatherhood of every man worthy
a standing in the Church. Measured
against this holy purpose of marriage the
gratification of lust is debasing and sinful,
and marks a very low order of manhood
and womanhood.
It is not, therefore, that the Latter-day
Saint makes everything else bend to the be-
getting of children ; he rather makes every-
thing bend toward social chastity, toward
the curbing and subduing of that heritage
344. The Mormon Point of View.
The Mormon family may be defined,
therefore, as the natural, untrammeled fam-
ily,— rthe family which results when the
fountains of life are not diverted to satiate
unholy desires. But bringing children into
the world is only half of the divine com-
mand. Observe that God said not only, "Be
fruitful and multiply," but also "Replenish
the earth and subdue it." This latter part
is fulfilled only when every child brought
into the world is fitted to do its share of the
world's work; fitted to replenish its indus-
trial army, and help subdue its deserts and
wildernesses.
Accordingly, among Latter-day Saints a
spirit of industry is enjoined upon all.
"There shall be no drones among you," said
the Lord in a revelation to Joseph Smith.
Again: "Six days shalt thou labor," said
Jehovah amid the thunders of Mt. Sinai;
and this first half of the divine command is
held to be just as sacred and binding as the
second half. The thrift of the Mormon peo-
ple is consequently proverbial. Perhaps
ninety per cent of all its families own their
own homes. For instance, the combined
wealth of the 466 descendants of Nahum
Curtis above referred to, is estimated con-
The Mormon Family.
345
servative at one million dollars, and is
pretty evenly distributed among - them all.
How thrift and industry are related to mor-
al character, I shall refer to again.
It is not polygamy, then, that is the es-
sential fact of the Mormon family as a so-
cial factor; for, as above pointed out, this
ideal consists in the natural, the untram-
meled birth of children, and their careful
bringing up for social service. Indeed,
polygamy unaccompanied by these charac-
teristic phases, would have no excuse for
existence that a Latter-day Saint could pos-
sibly countenance. And this thought leads
me to point out directly what was, — and is,
for that matter, — the need of plural mar-
riage as an adjunct in the social evolution of
Mormon family life.
Grant that every woman fitted physically
and otherwise for the divine mission of
motherhood, has a right to bear children, —
a right God-given and inalienable; and
grant further, — what must ever be the case
with the true Latter-day Saint, — that she
conceives the begetting of children to be a
solemn duty, the consequences of which will
reach into eternity; how shall she exercise
The Mormon Family.
347
ness which God intended ; or like Whittier's
sister, whom the poet describes as
"The sweetest woman ever fate
Preverse denied a household mate."
They may teach school ; paint flowers ;
make themselves cozy dens, sorrounded
with animal and vegetable pets; travel, lec-
ture, write books; perhaps grow old and
wizened as family servants, but even under
favorable conditions, is it not most pathetic
to see the juice of maternity drying up in
them, till they become all but sexless, often
misanthropic and cynical, rarely sweet and
mellowed by age, like the adorable grand-
mothers who were school-mates with them ?*
•"There i3 not one woman In a million who>
would not be married if she could have a chance.
How do I know? Just as I know the stars are
now shining in the sky, though it is high noon.
I never saw a star at noon day; but I know it
is the nature of stars to shine in the sky. Geni-
us or fool, rich or poor, beauty or the beast, if
marriage were what it should be, what God
meant it to be, what even with the world's pres-
ent possibilities it might be, it would be the
Elysium, the sole, complete Elysium of woman,
yes, and of man. Greatness, glory, usefulness,
await her otherwheres; but here alone all her
powers, all her being, can find full play. No
condition, no character even, can quite hide the
gleam of sacred fire; but on the household
346 The Mormon Point of View.
that right under laws that "forbid to
marry ?"
The argument that the sexes are born
about equal in number has but a shallow,
surface significance. Many men are dis-
abled, or unwilling to marry; and it is a
notorious fact, at least among us, and I
think also among mankind at large, that the
percentage disqualified for family life by
thriftlessness and vicious habits, is always
greater among men than among women. At
any rate, noble women pause at the thought
of taking such men to be the fathers of
their children.
From such a variety of causes (coupled
perhaps in many cases with the congenital
fact of plain-favored face or form), many
pure, high-minded young women are left
old-maids in nearly every town throughout
Zion; young women who are the peers of
the very best among their married sisters,
and whose issue could not fail to improve
the human race.
What shall these good women do? In
Mormondom, from force of religious train-
ing, they are all of the Evangeline type,
maidens who look forward to a loved union
which shall round out their lives to the full-
348 The Mormon Point of View.
Mormonism provided a way whereby all
true women within its fold might escape
such a fate. The number that entered
3>olygamy was always relatively small-
could not be otherwise, from the simple
lact that you cannot marry more women
than there are. Talk about plural
marriage menacing the so-called Amer-
ican home! Get down to figures,
will you, and determine how many
women would by any possibility be avail-
able for plural wives. Only those left over
because their birth mates were unwilling or
unworthy to marry them.
Mormon plural marriage was never a
menace to monogamy. It was merely a
safety-valve for the pressure of internal
social evils. It took up the old maids which
are now accumulating in our wards and
stakes; it arrested that contingent which
hearth it Joins the warmth of earth to the hues
of heaven. Brilliant, dazzling, vivid, a beacon
and a blessing her light may be; but only a
happy home blends the prismatic rays into a
soft, serene whiteness, that floods the world
with divine illumination. Without wifely or
motherly love, a part of her nature must re-
main enclosed, a spring shut up, a fountain
sealed." — Gall Hamilton.
The Mormon Family.
34»
350 The Mormon Point of View.
now directly, or through marital failures,
finds its way to gilded palaces of sin ; and
it permitted such a choice of sires as pre-
vented the thriftless and vicious from per-
petuating their undesirable progeny.
Then came our mis-guided brothers and
sisters of Babylon, with the Malthusian
ideal of family life, to break down our bar-
riers and turn loose among us the sexual
evils which now curse the world. They suc-
ceeded ; but in my humble opinion at a tre-
mendous cost to the social evolution of the
race. Had their prejudices permitted them
to be sane, they might at least have stood by
for a generation or two and observed this
experiment in family life, which Mormons
believe to have had essentially in it the so-
cial healing of the nations.
It is now too late, however; the institu-
tion as once upheld and enjoined by the
Church is gone. If examples of it occur in
the future, — and on this point let it be borne
in mind that social institutions are neither
made nor unmade in a day — they will be the
sporadic outcroppings of individual initia-
tive, and maintained in secrecy, under the
obloquy alike of Church and Social circle.
I state this most confidently on the basis
that the practice now contravenes a funda-
mental tenet of Mormonism: viz, "We be-
lieve in being subject to kings, presidents,
rulers, and magistrates, and in obeying,
honoring and sustaining the law." Our
struggle to maintain the institution came to
an abrupt end as soon as the enactment of
Congress against it was pronounced law;
that is to say, the Manifesto discontinuing
plural marriage was promulgated immedi-
ately upon the final interpretation of the
law by the Supreme court. As to relations
formed before the Manifesto, a higher law
than any possible legal enactment on earth
— the law of Anglo-Saxon manhood — will
take care of them, let the consequences be
what they may.
But let no one believe, because plural
marriage has been discontinued, that the
Mormon family ideal has been obliterated.
With the exception of a certain quota of
women left childless because they can find
no mates, and another quota among whom
are the victims set apart for the altar of
lust, — human waste product — which en-
forced monogamy always entails upon any
race or people, and which Charlotte Stetson
Gilman estimates to have constituted, un-
The Mormon Family.
351
til now, about one-third of the marriage-
able women of the race, — with these excep-
tions, vastly minimized however among
Latter-day Saints, the Mormon family will
go on to its necessarily revolutionary con-
sequences.
II.
ESSENTIAL BASES OF THE MORMON FAMILY.
But before taking up these consequences,
let us see whether the prediction that the
Mormon family will go on,js well founded;
in other words, let us investigate the basis
of this new unit of social life, and see how
deep and firm it is.
It is a noteworthy fact, in every civilized
country, that the large families are invari-
ably associated with the industrial classes;
that is to say, with men and women who
are naked to nature, as it were, because
stripped by stern necessity of those conven-
tional shams and artificialities which wealth
brings. The usual explanation of their fer-
tility is that they are ignorant of the de-
vices for preventing offspring.
That the poor and humble are thus inno-
cent of the sexual vices of the rich, may in-
352 The Mormon Point of View.
deed be true ; but it is a most significant fact
that they show little inclination, while so
living next to nature, to acquire them. And
the reason is self-evident : the life they lead
preserves sweet and wholesome the natural
race instincts. Fancy a working woman
cuddling to her breast a beribboned poodle,
or being ashamed of any phase whatever of
maternity !
The real growth of the Mormon ideal in
family life began with their exodus, when,
driven from their homes in the central
states, they were forced to live in tents and
covered wagons during the long and pain-
ful journey across the plains; and after-
wards when remote from the arts and
trades of civilization, each settler was com-
pelled, without intermediary agency, to get
food and clothing and shelter directly from
the soil. Here in the heart of the Amer-
ican desert, during nearly a quarter of a
century, the Mormons received such a bap-
tism in the wholesome environment of
natural life, that the God-implanted in-
stincts, blighted or sicklied over for gener-
ations by the conventions of society, grew
strong and sweet again. And which in-
stinct, let me ask, should, under normal
The Mormon Family.
353
354 The Mormon Point of View.
conditions, be more virile than love of off-
spring ?
The deepest source of the Mormon fam-
ily ideal is therefore that which they had in
common with all natural peoples. Thank
God then for the hardships which released
our mothers from the bondage of fashion;
which took them out of the "boudoir" with
its pastes and cosmetics, into garden, field,
and orchard for nature's own pinks and
browns; and which, instead of the "teas"
and "at homes," the "high-fives" and
"euchre" parties, with their vanities and
meddlesome insipidities, made it neces-
sary for them to keep time with the clock
far into the night, carding or spinning,
knotting or weaving, darning or sewing,
for rosy-cheeked darlings, lying perhaps
on straw mats here and there about the
one living room, their clothes beside them
like so many heaps of rags. What a sight
was this to warm and fertilize the mater-
nal heart! Pray God that even such hard-
ships may come again, should we forget
the lesson in character which they impart-
ed.
I repeat, the most basic source of the
Mormon family lies in the wholesomeness
The Mormon Family.
355
spiritual evolution. Not so with appeals
made to Latter-day Saints; for these find
response in the deepest emotions of the hu-
man heart; duty to God and hope of salva-
tion and exaltation in the life to come.
The source of this religious belief lies
primarily in the command given to our first
parents to be fruitful and multiply, a com-
mand held to be just as sacred in our day
as any in the decalogue; and the whole
tenor of scripture is such as to emphasize
the blessedness of obeying it.
"Children," says the Psalmist, "are an
heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the
womb is his reward. As arrows are in the
hands of a mighty man: so are children of
the youth. Happy is the man that hath his
quiver full of them: they shall not be
ashamed but shall speak with the enemies
in the gate." Again: "Thy wife shall be
as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine
house: thy children like olive plants round
about thy table. Thus shall the man be
blessed that feareth the Lord."*
Where faith is strong, that is to say,
where men and women have an abiding,
ever-present testimony that God lives, a
divine command is the end of all contro-
of affection which Mormons have in com-
mon with all children living close to nature.
But this source is ever in danger of drying
up to the extent that wealth shall take away
work; for no woman can love children un-
less she has to do for them. The society
dame may weep over a little half worn shoe
which her be jeweled fingers have never
put on nor ever taken off; but we instinct-
ively feel that she is acting, and inwardly
have only contempt for her crocodile tears.
The divine law that love is ever conditioned
upon service holds here as well as in other
matters of religion. Considering then that
the day of poverty for most Latter-day
Saints has disappeared, or is fast disappear-
ing, we may well ask will the Mormon fam-
ily gradually go with it ?
Were the unreasoning instincts its only
support, it might, indeed, it must, if the
lessons of history are to be trusted. But
Latter-day Saints have other supports. The
Presidents of Cornell and of Harvard
might appeal in vain to their respective
graduating classes not to avoid the respon-
sibilities of family life ; for at best the basis
of their appeal must be racial altruism, a
very uncertain quality at this stage of man's
356 The Mormon Point of View.
versy. God has said it, and the spirit bears
testimony that it is right. The doing of it,
therefore, even though its ultimate bearings
are not fully understood, brings that peace
and joy which soon come to be recognized
by the spiritual-minded as the benedictions
of heaven. It was such ardent faith, such
simple, unquestioning trust in what was
right and blessed, that facilitated the rear-
ing of "Bible families" in the days of an-
cient Israel. The same faith and trust
would suffice to reinforce the natural desire
for children among the "gathered Israel"
of today.
But this faith and trust no longer rests
on the mere ipse dixit of a divine command.
Latter-day Saints now realize that giving
birth to a child is no mere trifling with the
physical forces of procreation, but the most
tremendous event that can take place in the
whole range of their creative free agency;
viz., the furnishing of a mortal tabernacle
for a being eternal as God himself and
therefore inherently capable of becoming
perfect as his Father in heaven is perfect.
To refuse maternity is therefore to refuse
hospitality to a child of God warm with the
blessings of heaven upon its head as it is
The Mormon Family.
35T
;158 The Mormon Point of View.
sent earthward to begin its second estate;
to hinder its entrance upon mortality is
nothing less than seeking to block the way
in the psychic evolution of a soul. It
means that a man and a woman, after be-
ing themselves generously piloted into the
dark valley, through which all souls must
pass in order to be saved, would now tun*
round and close the gate upon their com-
panions of the pre-existent world. Could
ingratitude be more basely selfish than
this?
And therein lies the damnation of it; for
selfishness, be it remembered, no matter
how euphonious the names it may pass by
on earth — is the one quality in nearly every
sin that stands always in the way of eternal
life. Approach to salvation is ever in the
ratio of self-abnegation. What is salvation
itself but the complete triumph of altruism ?
It is on this basis, then, the basis of self-
sacrcifice to the end that the purposes of
God may be fulfilled, that the bearing and
rearing of many noble, God-fearing chil-
dren, is a means of salvation and exultation.
The argument is sometimes advanced
that a man's glory and dominion in the
hereafter will be in the ratio of the num-
The Mormon Family.
359
men will attain to honor and dominion in
the kingdom of heaven? Not manifestly
on the basis of the number of wives and
children they may have, but on the basis
of absolute character and fitness to rule.
But what will constitute that character and
fitness? What life on earth will have de-
veloped the qualities necessary to dominion
in that heavenly society? Will it be the
life that refused to obey God's first com-
mand?
The mere physical act of cohabitation is
a mark of selfishness rather than of un-
selfishness; but whether the motive be sel-
fish or unselfish is to be judged by the issue.
If it results in a home barren of children, to
the end that it may be full of luxuries, then
in God's sight the human pair guilty of it
must be monsters of selfishness, however
they may be rated by society on earth fot
intelligence and culture. Think you His
rulers will be chosen from such as these?
On the other hand, if the act result in
"children like a flock," and those children,
moreover, are reared to do God's work in
the earth, what can be greater evidence of
unselfish character? There have doubtless
been Mormons whose crass notions of ex-
ber of spirits born under his lineage.
Stated thus baldly the doctrine has always
seemed to me selfishly pharisaical: as if
one should say, "I am holier than thou, be-
cause I have done thus and so more than
thou." And the impression made upon the
minds of intelligent investigators cannot
fail to be the utterly repulsive one that de-
grees of glory in the 'Mormon' heaven are
■won on the basis of fine breeding qualities
on earth. And with such a notion, is it any
wonder that they say our religion is "egre-
giously materialistic ?"
Let us therefore look more narrowly into
this argument. If heaven is to be a com-
monwealth characterized by perfect social
harmony, — and what else could be heaven?
— then it is conceivable only along the lines
of a perfect organization of society on the
basis of absolute truth. Such an organ-
ization would involve both rulers and ruled,
In all degrees of co-ordination and sub-
ordination ; in other words, it would involve
the "dominions, principalities, and pow-
ers," spoken of by Paul, and the "priests
and kings unto the Most High," referred to
by John the Revelator.
Now, on what score is it conceivable that
360 The Mormon Point of View.
altation have led them to bring children in-
to the world with all the irresponsibility of
rabbits ; but such families, while perhaps in
the Church are never of it. Nor are they in
it for more than one generation : their prog-
eny have no more cohesion for the life of
sacrifice demanded by Mormonism than so
much thistledown. They will be found
anywhere but in the kingdom of God.
The Mormon doctrine of eternal domin-
ion as related to posterity, implies that such
posterity shall, through the training of par-
ents, be saved in the kingdom of heaven.
Think what a life of unselfish love and de-
votion, what a ceaseless vigilance for truth
and right, a Mormon family saved implies
in the father and mother of that family
To be the father of forty-two children
twenty-one sons and twenty-one daughters,
by five different mothers, is nothing note-
worthy from the mere physical point of
view; but to rear such a family with the
love and harmony that prevails in President
Smith's homes, implies a character for so-
cial control on the part of the parents,
which to say the least, is very extraordin-
ary. Now, suppose the time had come for
God to choose from the sons of earth a min
The Mormon Family.
361
fitted by well-tried judgment to settle the
difficulties in an ideal society, on the lines
of love, patience, long-suffering, justice,
impartiality, what monogamist living the
selfish ideals of the world, could stand the
test with the polygamist who brings up five
families of noble sons and daughters to
bless his name?
The doctrine that glory and dominion in
the hereafter are related to the number of a
man's posterity will probably hold there-
fore ; but its advocates should be careful to
qualify it by the condition that the rearing
of such a posterity shall have resulted in a
God-like character; and not forget to add
that failure in this regard leads rather to
hell than to heaven, and with a descent ac-
celerated by how many spirits he has
brought into the world to damn his name.
Bringing forward my theme again, I
may remark that the perpetuity of the Mor-
mon family and its ability to resist th» Mal-
thusian ideal, is assured not only or. the
basis of instinct, reinforced by the sanction
of religion, but also by the Mormon con-
ception of patriotism and duty to country.
Listen ' to the ringing words of President
The Mormon Family.
365
his country, and himself should bring into-
the world, care for, and educate, the largest
family he is able to."
It will be seen that President Fair makes
the duty of rearing a large family three-
fold: A duty to God, to country, ->nd to
self. These divisions, however, are really
only different aspects of the supreme duty
of man to work out his own salvation.
God's purpose in creating this planet was
to furnish a new environment, a "second
estate," for the education of his son-, and"
daughters. The carrying out of this pur-
pose is conditioned upon man's fulfilling
the first great command. God's next pur-
pose is so to conserve and evolve the good
among mankind that out of the confusion
of Babylon, shall gradually come the order
of the Millennium, and that, too, on this
earth. Man helps to accomplish this pur-
pose when he brings into the world a 'mul-
titude of good citizens ; for what is good
citizenship but promoting justice, the vir-
tue which shall make the Millennium pos-
sible? God's final purpose is to save man-
kind. This is possible only by surrounding
them with an ever progressive environ-
362 The Mormon Point of View.
Lorin Farr, the patriarch referred to in the
opening chapter :
"The best citizen, the greatest patriot, is
the man who loves the institutions of his
country and obeys its laws, and who at the
same time brings into the world and edu-
cates the greatest number of men and wo-
men to follow his example.
"The people who refuse to become par-
ents are never satisfied. They are seeking
a pleasure they cannot find, because they
are shirking their most sacred duty. The
man or woman who is afraid or unwilling
to take the responsibility of becoming a
good parent, is not fit to discharge the other
duties of citizenship. The husband who
wilfully and knowingly neglects to perpetu-
ate his race is not a good man, and I would
not shake hands with him as a brother.
"President Roosevelt is exactly right on
the score of big families, and he'll find his
opinions sustained by all good men regard-
less of party. Almost all true, noble-
minded men and women want large fam-
ilies. Some can have none at all. I am
sorry for them. Small families are better
than none at all, but I do not believe in
them. Suppose you have one or two chil-
dren and you lose them through diseas: or
accident. Then if you are old how will your
lineage be perpetuated?
"The man who does his duty to his God,
301 The Mormon Faint of View.
ment, which, successively over-come, shall
by its reaction develop in man the attributes
of God himself. One stage of this en-
vironment is what I have called the Bible
family. Man's duty to himself is not to
shirk any situation the mastery of which
will add to his honor and glory; and what
other experience could possibly compensate
in character-formation for the loss of
fatherhood and motherhood in the true, un-
trammeled sense in which God ordained
them?
III.
CONSEQUENCES IN EXTENSION.
"The upright," says Solomon, "shall
dwell in the land, and the perfect shall re-
main in it; but the wicked shall be cut off
from the earth, and the transgressors shall
be rooted out of it." Darwin told the same
truth in a later day when he announced the
law of the survival of the fittest.
Writers on sociological subjects do not
hesitate to vindicate the wisdom of Solo-
mon in this passage nor the scientific accu-
racy of the conclusion by Darwin, so far as
the degenerate classes are concerned. Dr.
The Mormon Family.
265
McKim, a recent writer on "Heredity and
Human Progress," takes the ground that
nature refuses her sanction to the perpet-
uity of the defective in the human race;
among which he includes, first, the idiot or
lowest manifestation of human degeneracy;
second, the imbecile, or weak-minded who
is incapable of caring for himself. Third,
the epileptic, or person not in control of his
nervous organization ; fourth, the habitual
drunkard; fifth, the criminal, or moral de-
generate.
"All individuals in civilized society,"
says McKim, "are — to some degree degen-
erates : through a weak and vicious ances-
try, the seeds of degeneracy have been
scattered broadcast and may, anywhere, de-
velop into the rankest luxuriance; but as a
rule it is along special family-lines that we
find the notable phenomena of degeneracy:
insanity, idiocy, imbecility, eccentricity,
hysteria, epilepsy, the alcohol-habit, the
morphine-habit, neuralgia, 'nervousness,'
St. Vitus' dance, infantile convulsions,
stammering, squint, gout, articular rheu-
matism, diabetes, tuberculosis, cancer,
deafness, blindness, deaf-mutism, color-
blindness, and a number of other abnormal
366 The Mormon Point of View.
conditions less well known to the lay public.
...The history of these families usually
shows on accelerating intensification, gener-
ation after generation, of the fatal heritage
until they have become extinct."
The author proceeds to illustrate this
last fact, by citing well authenticated fam-
ilies, and tracing their swift descent to ex-
tinction in some instances in the third, in
others in the fourth and fifth generations.
Then he adds: "It is a matter of congrat-
ulation that there are thus removed, event-
ually, many of those who are utterly unfit
for human society. But this desired end is
usually reached only after some generations
of miserable lives; and the taint of the de-
caying stock is by no means always elim-
inated when a family has been brought to
the brink of annihilation. A man of a fast
waning stock, heavily laden with inherited
weaknesses, marries a woman of healthy
and vigorous descent, and, behold, the fam-
ily name is rescued from extinction. But
at what a cost ! .... It is in this way that
from time immemorial the threads of
vicious inheritance have been woven into
the web of the human constitution."*
'Heredity and Human Progress, pp. 65 to 70.
The Mormon Family.
367
Nature, which is only another name for
the will of God, can have no permanent
sanction for the weak, the corrupt, or the
vicious. Eventually she sloughs them, as a
tree does a worm-eaten branch; and the
very place where they once hung on is ob-
literated. We are now to bring into this
same category, men and women who pride
themselves upon being the cream of the
race ; the rich, the haughty, the exclusive,
who look down upon the toilers among
mankind — as the proletariat. In mental
and physical equipment they cannot be
classed among the defectives, yet they are
degenerates all the same. Their sin is
that of utter selfishness.
"By the sweat of thy brow, shall thou eat
thy bread," said the Lord to the emancipat-
ed Adam. Whoever despises this law, the
law of personal contact with nature, cannot
be kept sweet and wholesome, but must
soon be given over to "unnatural affec-
tions." Such in fact is the curse that falls
upon the idle rich. Around them grows an
atmosphere of sham and artificiality called
fashion, which, however it may dazzle the
would-be imitators in the working statum,
cannot fail to be an abomination in the sight
368 The Mormon Point of View.
of the Ordainer of Nature. And so it hap-
pens that these, too, drop out of existence
in a very few generations.
In illustration of this thought I cannot
do better than quote a recent editorial of
the Deseret News commenting upon an ar-
ticle by Lydia K. Commander in the New
York Independent of April 14, 1904 :
"It contains tsays the News] an array of
evidence, gathered from the most authen-
tic sources, and showing the decadence of
American stock, the decline in the Ameri-
can birth-rate, and the open avowal of phy-
sicians and others as to the suppression of
offspring. The calculation of Benjamin
Franklin, who, by the way, was one of four-
teen children, as to what would be the pop-
ulation in 1900, is quoted, that is, 100,000,-
000; which was based on the average fam-
ily of his time, namely eight. The actual
population is but 76,000,000, of whom
11,000,000 are foreign born and 13,000,000
the offspring of foreign born parents leav-
ing but 52,000,000 for American stock, or
little more than half the number predicted.
Investigating the effect of the announced
prejudice of landlords in New York against
renting houses and flats to people having
children, the writer of that article found
that in large numbers of families renting
The Mormon Family.
609
370 The Mormon Point of View.
there were no children at all, and in many
others but one child. Pursuing the inqui-
ries, the writer visited forty-six physicians;
several declined to discuss the matter, but
thirty-six responded, and out of these thirty
answered the question: "What do you
consider the ideal American family," by
saying, "Two children, a girl and a boy."
One of them actually declared that, "Hav-
ing a family is not an American ideal," and
further remarked : "Among my patients I
find that the majority do not want any
children; certainly not more than one. I
should say that as a rule the second is an
accident, the third is a misfortune, and the
fourth a tragedy."
Another physician said: "The desire to
limit or eliminate family is universal. Chil-
dren are no more, or scarcely more, desired
among the poor than among the rich,
though the poor are often less successful
in avoiding them. I am consulted profes-
sionally in regard to this every day." An-
other remarked, "Whenever the woman of
the poorer classes is the least bit above the
lower level, she desires to cease having
children. No request is made of me often-
er in the clinic than for advice along these
lines." Fourteen other physicians having
clinic experience confirmed those opinions.
We have not space or inclination to quote
the numerous instances cited on the subject,
but refer the reader to the article in the In-
dependent, which is summed up as follows:
A review of the evidence gathered points
to these conclusions :
i — That the size of the American family
has diminished.
2 — That the decline is greatest among the
rich and educated, but also exists to a
marked extent, among the middle class and
the intelligent poor.
3 — That only the most ignorant and ir-
responsible make no effort to limit the
number of their children.
4 — That not only has the large family
disappeared, but it is no longer desired.
5 — That the prevailing American ideal,
among rich and poor, educated and unedu-
cated, women and men, is two children.
6 — That childlessness is no longer con-
sidered a disgrace or even a misfortune;
but is frequently desired and voluntarily
sought.
7 — That opposition to large families is
so strong an American tendency that our
immigrants are speedily influenced by it;
even Jews, famous for ages for their love
of family, exhibiting its effects.
8 — That the large family is not only in-
dividually, but socially, disapproved; the
parents of numerous children meeting pub-
lic censure.
The Independent editorially deplores but
does not deny the statements and conclu-
sions of the article from which we quote.
The Mormon Family.
371
It endeavors to promote a desire for honor-
able and prudent marriage, however, and
for large families of healthy intelligent
children. It argues that "many of the very
best women who would make the best
mothers remain unmarried because there
are not enough good and worthy men to
provide them husbands." And it declares,
"The fact is that there are two good, pure,
high-minded women to one such man."
And further, "Many such women do not
meet the man worthy of them who can seek
them in marriage, and they will not marry
a man whom they cannot respect." If
[concludes the News] these remarks had
been made by a 'Mormon' writer, he would
at once be suspected, if not accused, of ad-
vocating polygamy."
In placing the upper extreme of society
in the same category with the lower, as re-
spects the tendency to extinction, let me not
fail to note one important difference. In
the case of defectives, the inability to per-
petuate the family is organic; that is to say
it grows out of feebleness, or perverted
physical powers. In the case of fashion
devotees, barrenness results from wrong
standards of life ; in other words, from per-
verted mental powers. It is not that the
rich and well-to-do could not have large
372 The Mormon Point of View.
families; it is simply that they will not be
so "disgraced" (!)
Mormon communities are peculiarly con-
stituted to prove the last-named fact, made
up as they are of broken families from
thousands of more or less illustrious but,
alas, fast disappearing lineages. The
founders of the three families noted in the
opening chapter, and hundreds like them
throughout the Church, are descendants of
New England, and have close relatives to-
day among the exquisites of Boston and
other eastern centers of culture; than
which same exquisites it would be difficult
to find more typical examples of racial dry
rot.
And yet these Mormon descendants,
these disgraced scions of many a "respect-
able" Puritan family, are today among the
leading exemplars of the Bible family ideal.
Does it not seem as if the accumulated
race instinct, long repressed by the demands
of "culchaw," has at last burst through
its artificial barriers, and is now reaching
its full flood tide among the despised
dwellers of the Rocky mountains? Leav-
ing only the mud and debris of a stagnat-
ed "has been" to the few dainty lingerers
The Mormon Family.
3?3
on the sites of its once populous and dom-
inant family hearths !
Nor is this contrast less pronounced
when families, the descendants of Eng-
lish parents, compare births with uncles
and cousins left in the old world.
Whence it may be pertinently asked, Is it
possible that influence of ideal is responsible
for such disparity in fruitfulness betweenu
parallel branches of the same family tree?'
Latter-day Saints can hardly be persuaded*
that this is the only factor at work. They
believe literally that "children are the her-
itage of the Lord;" but more of this ques-
tion anon. The immediate purpose of the
present chapter was merely to forecast in
general some of the social changes which
are inevitable should the Mormon family
go on.
It will hardly be denied that the tendency
in the United States, like that in some of
the countries of Europe, is, as President
Roosevelt says, in the direction of race sui-
cide. The statistics commented upon in the*
editorial above quoted, will be recognized
as exhibiting the essential truth respecting
other communities than New York. There
is little use denying the fact: the American
The Mormon Family.
375
heavenly emigration. Against this influx
of Mormons they can only gnash their
teeth in despair.
The "American home" which figures so
frequently in the fervid denunciations of
Mormonism, is fast becoming a trite meta-
phor ; that is to say, it is a thing fast being
embalmed in the mere embellishments of
rhetoric — and in need of such embalming.
Long before it shall be quite mummified,
however, the restored American home will
be here; the natural, untrammeled home, in
which there shall be mothers, not dames of
fashion; and children, numerous as in the
days of Franklin, and expecting no other
legacy than the brain and brawn of man-
hood and womanhood, — not as now a wea-
zend pair or trio eyeing each other with
distrust while waiting for the post mortem
division of a miserable patrimony.
"The upright shall dwell in the land, and
the perfect shall remain in it ; but the wick-
ed shall be cut off from the earth and the
transgressor shall be rooted out of it."
374 The Mormon Point of View.
family is a decadent family. The natural
life itself represents a magnificent river
gradually losing itself in the sands of an
ever-widening desert of shams and con-
ventions.
Against this tendency Mormonism is but
a small stream at present ; but it is a living,
sparkling, natural stream, flowing in the
opposite direction and gathering volume
and momentum by every rill and brooklet.
Let these two tendencies continue and it
needs no prophet to foretell that the Amer-
ican family of the future will be the Mor-
mon family, despised though it be at the
present time.
And this transplanting of the living for
the dying is one which the rage and hatred
of mobocracy cannot prevent. The tide of
Mormon life has too many estuaries for
anything short of total extermination to
close. Let the rabid wardens of degenerate
Christian cults face this situation squarely.
They may still poison the minds of men and
women in the world, so that the vitalizing
truths of Mormonism shall be disregard-
ed, and our missionaries come home as
empty handed as they went out; but they
cannot control the resistless tide of the
IV.
RESULTS IN EXTENSION CONTINUED.
Without being a prophet or the son of a
prophet, I find, on re-reading the last chap-
ter, that I have been prophesying good
about the Mormon family and its future.
I hasten therefore to review the basis on
which I have ventured the prediction. This
basis is two-fold: first, the persistence of
the Bible ideal of family life among Latter-
day Saints, or the triumph of race altruism ;
and secondly, the persistence in Babylon of
the Malthusian ideal, or the continued tri-
umph of race-destroying selfishness.
As to the first of these factors, I am
aware that all has not yet been said in a
negative way, and I shall therefore advert
to it again. On the positive side, however,
the evidence for the persistence of the ideal
seems clear. The race instinct for children
is normal at present; and owing to the
probability for two or three generations at
least, that Latter-day Saints will be for the
most part a pastoral people, and so be
moulded by regenerative contact with na-
The Mormon Family.
377
378 The Mormon Point of View.
ture, this instinct bids fair to grow in pow-
er rather than decrease. So, too, the re-
ligious support for the natural family, is
sure to grow stronger, as men investigate
more deeply the mystery and meaning of
mortal probation; while duty to the race,
which includes patriotism and love of coun-
try, will as it becomes more and more an
object of religion, also find its noblest ex-
pression in transmitting the torch of life
with a crescent rather than a waning
brightness.
Let us now examine the basis of the pre-
vailing ideal of family life in the world. In
the country, especially on small farms, and
wherever wealth has not accumulated be-
yond the need of daily labor, nor decreased
to a point where labor barely suffices for
subsistence, the natural instinct for chil-
dren will take care of the race, even though
not reinforced by religious or ethical mo-
tives; and herein lies the safety of our be-
loved commonwealth. Compared with free
open areas of human activity, the city is
only a vast race cemetery for the overflow
population of the country.
For one generation perhaps after enter-
ing the city, the race instinct for children
remains normal; but before it can assert
itself, it must live down a peculiar variety
of temptations. There is first the lust temp-
tation. As this is frequently the sole im-
mediate inducement to marry, so the base
pleasure of it is naturally inimical to pro-
creation. Next there is the desire to escape
toil and drudgery. The large family be-
comes appalling to the inexperienced hus-
band and wife, when measured by the care
they have been devoting to a first child.
Then many a young married pair have an
ambition to get rich quickly, and so grudge
their substance to their own flesh and blood.
But perhaps the most subtle temptation is
that presented by social functions. Women
lose their girlish figures and other marks of
beauty, which hitherto have fed their van-
ity. Men must give up their clubs — an 'aw-
ful bore.' And so it happens, especially in
the second generation, the instinct for chil-
dren grows at length so feeble that the fam-
ily of two — a boy and a girl — becomes the
ideal. Often, as the New York physician
put it, the second of these is an accident;
and so far from desiring more, these mar-
ried worldlings would regard the third a
misfortune, and the fourth a tragedy.
The Mormon Family.
379
Nor is it difficult to understand how the
desire for children, which normally should
be the strongest race instinct, dies alto-
gether under the influence of modern civil-
ization, especially in cities. The transfor-
mations wrought by invention have left
sacred no tradition of social life. Time was
when the ambition of every substantial
American was to found and perpetuate a
noble family; society has now veered com-
pletely round to the divorce court ideal.
Homes are fast being supplanted by flats,
with no provision for children; firesides
and home circles, by theatres, concert halls,
clubs, and dens. So fast and furious has
become the race for wealth and pleasure,
that children are everywhere a hindrance.
Even work which ordinarily should bring
its blessing of naturalness to the worker,
has been so specialized in industrial centres
as to add to the artificiality of life. Men no
longer get glimpses of the natural history
of things they make, eat, or wear. They
are mere cogs in a wheel, making their lit-
tle rounds in the darkness of a man-created
world, far from the glorious sun and stars
and the wholesome reactions of the uni-
verse. And so with no support from re-
"380 The Mormon Point of View.
ligion, and duty to race a mere book senti-
ment, small wonder that love of offspring
•for my conviction that the Bible family, as
life which comes in contact with nature
•only at last in a childless, unloved grave !
Such then, in general, are the grounds
for my conviction that the Bible famliy, as
upheld by Latter-day Saints will be the
dominant type in the America of the future.
Mormons will not give up their family ideal,
as long as it is supported by a living, virile
faith; the worldly-minded, having no such
faith, will shirk the responsibility, unde-
terred by appeals to race patriotism. Both
ideals will thus reach the inevitable re-
sults by vastly accelerated movements: the
dominant ideal by its tremendously in-
creased power, generation after generation,
for making converts ; the decadent ideal by
its loss through conversion of those families
which would otherwise have kept up the
ratio of increase.
Supposing, however, that the relative in-
crease in population remains the same as
now; viz, two and one-half for each set of
parents in the world, and five for each set
among the Latter-day Saints. Beginning
with a population of 8o millions for the
IS
is
o o
o
i r-
i * m
- > O
; < rn
• r-
D
o
The Mormon Family.
381
United States, the increase for ten genera-
tions would be as follows : first ioo million ;
second, 125 million; third, 156 million;
fourth, 170 million; fifth, 212 Million;
Sixth, 266 million; seventh, 332 million;
eighth, 440 million; ninth, 551 million;
tenth, 662 million.
Compare with this the growth of the
Latter-day Saints for the same time, begin-
ning with a basis of 300 thousand. First
generation, 750 thousand ; second, I million,
785 thousand; third, 4 million; fourth, 11
million; fifth, 29 million; sixth, 73 mil-
lion ; seventh, 183 million ; eigth, 457
million; ninth, 1144 million; tenth, 2861
million.
The result in ten generations would thus
be as 2861 millions to 662 millions in favor
of the Mormon ideal; that is to say this
ideal will dominate the other as four to one,
within a period of time less than that which
has elapsed since Columbus discovered
America. Blessed be the people who array
themselves on the side of nature! All the
powers of the universe are behind them.
Ten generations, however, is a long time,
from the human point of view, to wait for
382 The Mormon Point of View.
a people to veer around again to natural
conditions. Personally I should have been
willing to see this regeneration helped for-
ward by the assistance of plural marriage.
It would not have helped much in the ag-
gregate, — only to the extent that good wo-
men now denied families — would add to
the regenerative forces; but looked at from
the point of view of individual family lines,
the results would be surprising enough.
Elder A. M. Musser, for instance, makes
the following unique comparison: "If Ex-
President Cleveland's five children should
each be as prolific as their father, his poster-
ity in six generations would be 15,625;
President Roosevelt's by his six children
would, for the same time, be 46,656; A. M.
Musser's 35 children by four wives — 20
sons and 15 daughters, — would, were each
son to be as prolific as the father and each
daughter as her mother, make his descend-
ants equal, in six generations, to 64,885,735
souls! Verily, 'The little one shall become
a thousand and the small one a nation.' "
But a population of 2861 millions plus
662 millions, or a total of over two and one-
half billions, is an incredible population
even for the United States. In these calcu-
The Mormon Family.
383
lations the supposition was that the ratio of
increase remained constantly two and one-
half per married pair in the United States
as a whole, and five per married pair
among Latter-day Saints. As a matter of
fact such a ratio takes no acount of deaths
before the age of nubility. Consequently we
shall need to revise the results very mater-
ially.
In a study on the growth of population
Mr. Grant Allen a few years ago reached
the conclusion that in order to keep the race
stationary in numbers, it is necessary for
every married pair to have four chilrden.
This estimate was based partly on the grow-
ing disinclination to marry on the part of
many men, and partly on the study of the
death rate among minors. At first the need
of four births from each marriage seems un-
duly large, considered merely as the means
of keeping the population even; but when
one looks around and discovers the propor-
tion of men and women in every community
who might but who do not marry, and re-
flects upon the heavy mortality among chil-
dren, and the deaths from war and acci-
dent among adults, the estimate will be seen
to be about correct.
384 The Mormon Point of View.
In a paper on "The Family" read by Pro-
fessor Howard of Chicago University be-
fore the world's congress of science and
arts at the St. Louis Fair, the point was
made that owing to improved sanitation
and hygiene, a greater proportion of the
children born are likely in the future to
reach the marriageable age, than have done
so in the past. To be entirely safe, there-
fore, let us put the number of births neces-
sary to keep up the population, at three in-
stead of four per family. This still leaves
the United States as a whole on the de-
cadent side of population, the births being
but two and one-half per family. Instead ol
advancing in numbers, the population is
retrograding at the ratio of three to two
and one-half, or as six to five in each suc-
cessive generation. Should no change come
to disturb this ratio, the decrease in 350
years or ten generations, beginning with a
population of 80 millions, would be as fol-
lows : first generation, 66 millions ; second,
55 millions; third, 46 millions; fourth, 38
millions; fifth, 32 millions, sixth, 26 mil-
lions; seventh, 22 millions; eighth, 18 mil-
lions; Ninth, 13 millions; and tenth, 11 mil-
lions.
The Mormon Family.
.585
In the face of the recent tremendous
growth in the population of the United
States, no American would give his assent
to these figures. Nevertheless, if our coun-
try had been under the necessity of depend-
ing solely upon the blue-blood stock of cer-
tain old families, a decadence somewhat
like this would already have taken place;
and were the future in the hands of those
people who now limit offspring to one or
two children, this result would be inevitable.
But America is too rich a country to
languish for population, even though the
old world be half depopulated in conse-
quence. Nor need we look to foreign
sources for keeping up an increase in our
ranks: Latter-day Saints are Americans.
Let us proceed to note what would be the
growth of population among this people,
under the Bible family ideal, for the next
ten generations.
Of the five children in each average Mor-
mon family, let us allow one for the death
rate below the age of nubility. This is a
much smaller ratio than that exacted in
the other calculation, and is justified on
three considerations: (i) the Latter-day
Saints, being active propogandists, may be
386 The Mormon Point of View.
expected to increase largely by conversions,
(2) As all Latter-day Saints hold it a duty
to God to rear an honorable family, very
few comparatively will shirk the responsi-
bility of married life; (3) the death-rate
among Mormon children will, for reasons
to be discussed in the next chapter, be much
lower than in the United States at large.
Four children to the family that live and
reproduce, constitutes the simple geomet-
rical ratio of increase, viz, two, four, eight,
sixteen, thirty-two, etc., that disturbed the
Rev. Thomas Robert Malthus so mightily,
and led him to write the famous treatise,*
•"Essay upon the Principles of Population
as It Affects the Future Improvement of Socie-
ty." The leading Idea of this work Is that the
population of the earth increasing steadily In
geometrical ratios, the world must soon be
over-populated; and that unless means to check
such Increase be promptly adopted, the nations
of the earth must soon be brought to the verge
of starvation. Malthus' remedy was abstinence
from marriage; needless to say, believers in his
theories have found other means of accom-
plishing the same result.
which has since served as moral shield for
all who take it upon themselves to curtail
their offspring. As Latter-day Saints are
not among his followers, nor ever likely to
The Mormon Family.
387
be, the Mormon family will go on, undis-
turbed by his academic prophecies. Begin-
ning with a population of 300,000, they will
have reached 38 millions by the sixth gen-
eration as against the 26 million descend-
ants from the United States as a whole,
and 614 millions by the tenth generation,
as against 1 1 millions, the remnants of those
who believe in the present small-family
ideal.
Allowing one hundred million for the
foreigners drawn to America and their de-
scendants, and we have approximately a
population of three-quarters of a billion
people ; none too great for the resources of
our marvelous country. But lest factors
unforeseen have been left out in this calcu-
lation, let us cut this estimate in two, or
even in four. The influence of the Mor-
mon ideal will still be as six to one in that
future day. What is more immediately to
the point, however, that influence is at work
now, small in its power, perhaps, and nar-
row in its field, but still on the ascendant
scale. // is the only ideal that carries na-
tional greatness within its womb.
V.
RESULTS IN INTENSION.
The fact that any given people shall out-
grow and survive any other people with
which they may be in competition, is prima
facie evidence both by Scripture and by
science, of their innate fitness to survive. I
might therefore rest my argument for the
superiority of the Mormon ideal on just
such a broad conclusion as this ; but I prefer
to show this same truth in detail, by con-
sidering the inevitable reactions of
this ideal in character formation.
To understand and appreciate the part
Latter-day Saints are probably destined to
play in the social evolution of the future, it
will be well to glance at the constitution of
the present stock and their immediate pre-
decessors. It is now over seventy years
since the Church was established; long
enough to launch well into life the leading
spirits of the third generation, while there
are still members of the first lingering here
and there, and the majority of the second
are in the prime of a vigorous manhood and
womanhood.
The Mormon Family.
359
390 The Mormon Point of View.
From the fact that the fathers and moth-
ers of the present dominant generation were
drawn from the humble and poor among
mankind, it is often inferred that Mormons
are people of mean spirit. Elswhere I have
considered this question, and can do no bet-
ter than quote the passage here.*
"Called by the voice of the Spirit, 'two of 8?
family and one of a city,' and led and driven to*
the barren wastes of the Rocky Mountains, they
are today holding up the highest standard of
righteousness that the world has ever seen.
Judged superficially they may, indeed, seem
what their traducera call them, the poor, the
unlettered, the despised of the world, for, in
the language of Paul, not many wise men. after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, have
the moral courage to accept the real Gospel of
Jesus. As in the days of Christ, they have been
chosen from the ranks of the fishermen, the
farmers, the artislans of the world; but humble
as they are, they are raised to the rank of true
manhood and womanhood by a virtue which you
that read, scholar and fine gentleman that you
are, perchance may not possess: the moral
courage to forsake houses and lands, break
the dearest ties of kindred face the obloquy of
a surprised and outraged social circle, and cast
in your lot with a people counted the filth and
offscourings of all things, — for the sake of an
ideal!
"Call them low-bred, if you will, — ignorant.
•Scientific Aspects of Mormonism, p. 112.
uncouth, mistaken zealots. — anything that will
relieve your sense of propriety, your pitiful
infatuation for sham and conventionality: but
do not dare to call them cowards. For, animat-
ing those ungraceful figures bent with toll,
guiding the caresses of those calloused hands,
unfitted for palette or key-board; strangely
light in those rugged countenances, when no
apparent cause is visible, — are the souls of
heroes and heroines; not. indeed, of the kind
that do and dare for the plaudits of the world;
"but of the kind utterly unconscious that they
are brave; fearing only the eye of their Maker,
and seeking solace of Him in secret places, with
tears and broken sobs, when all the world
spurns them.
"Such are the foundation stones that Mor-
monism has dug from the mud and debris 'neath
the feet of the gay and fashionable world. Such
have been many of the Elders it has commis-
sioned to carry its message back to their fel-
lows in bondage. Little wonder that they avoid-
ed the great and the learned, and labored
among the poor. But now their sons and
daughters are here. These need fear no com-
parison, even by the world's standard. Tall
and straight and comely, gifted with intellect-
ual vigor and spiritual insight, they are among
the flower of Shem, reserved for this last con-
flict with sham and artificiality. Nor do they
lack the courage of their fathers and mothers.
At this very moment two thousand such young
men are traveling throughout the world at the
sacrifice of their own hard-earned means;
preaching the message of the new dispensation
to all who will hear it; and finding Ineffable Joy,
even when a stone and bed of leaves by the
The Mormon Family.
391
way side serves them for rest, and the infinite
starry canopy is the only roof above their heads.
And at home in the vallevs. as the shades of
night deepen, hundreds of young mothers are
calling flocks of rosy-cheeked children with
neat but unpretentious homes; and there in the
little parlor they will kneel together, and pray
that papa may be protected against mobs and
evil designing men.
"And there are fifty thousand other young
men ready to go, when the call shall come; and
as many young women ready to do their part
in keeping up the table, rearing their children
to fear and love the Lord,— if need be, to send
their husbands money with which to buy shoes.
Nor is this fanaticism; it results from a dyna-
mic realization of that reciprocal and indlsolu-
ble ideal — love of God and love of man; it is
only a sane and rational approach toward that
altruism which shall in time be world-wide,— a
clear sensing of the law that he who would lose
his life shall save It, he who would save his
life shal lose it. And though the results, meas-
ured In converts are meagre enough, yet meas-
ured in their reactions on the charcter of the
Latter-day Saints as a people, they are above
the price of rubles."
How, let me ask the scientific reader, will
the moral courage that dared face the scorn
of the world, and afterward was undeterred
by the hardships of the American desert, —
how, I repeat, may we expect these sterling
qualities of character inherent and devel-
oped in the fathers and mothers of the earlier
392 The Mormon Point of View.
generation, to affect the offspring of today
and the future? Was it not an admirable
school of adversity in which to lay the foun-
dations of a virile people?
Consider next the fact that these sturdy
men and women are drawn from every-
where in Europe and America, and that
there is consequently such a mingling of
blood from widely separated peoples as per-
haps no other place in the world presents
examples of. What effect for strengthening
and invigorating the race must this inti-
mate commingling of nationalities have on
the physical basis of life? Let the student
of anthropology come and see the transfor-
mation that a single generation has brought
about and then let him estimate the power
of this factor in fitting the Mormons of the
future to survive.
But the factors that promise most for the
future of this people are the ideals which
cluster around the marriage covenant.
There is first the idea that the union is not
merely for time but also for eternity. That
is to say, a marriage pronouncement by
authority from God, if a divine dispensa-
tion for two souls to become, during the
countless ages before them, one self -per-
The Mormon Family.
393
394 The Mormon Point of View.
petuating being; a being having the same
power of begetting or creating life that God
himself has. This union is not merely one
of poetical sentiment; on the contrary it is
precisely that which was contemplated by
Paul when he said : "The man is not with-
out the woman, nor the woman without the
man, in the Lord." It takes the two to make
the One ; a single being may be saved but
he would be only half of a self-perpetuating
being, and therefore infertile. God distinct-
ly points out this dual character in himself
when He declared that He made man and
woman in His image.
Such a conception must inevitably tend to
the stability of the marriage covenant. Not
that divorces cannot be had in the Mormon
Church; for Latter-day Saints realize that
the ceremony is not the real binding power.
The ceremony is to the final union merely
what the wrapping is to the graft, — a means
of holding in place the parts till it becomes
evident or not that they will unite. If the
union becomes organic as when the graft
grows and becomes part of the tree, then it
is a true marriage. Little need to say of
such a union, "Let no man put it asunder :"
for in this case, as in that of the growing
The Mormon Family.
395
the fulfilling of the first divine command,
with all the blessings of domestic life in-
cident thereto. And since the constancy of
the marriage covenant is the strongest safe-
guard of the home, the Mormon ideal pre-
sents thus at the outset an unusually strong
mark of enduring character.
We may next note that in the phrase,
'righteous posterity' lies another ideal as-
sociated with Mormon marriage. It is not
enough merely to bring children into the
world : they must never be suffered to for-
get the purpose of mortal life. "Inasmuch,"
says a revelation to Joseph Smith, "as par-
ents have children in Zion, or in any of her
Stakes which are organized, that teach them
not to understand the doctrine of repentance,
faith in Christ the Son of the living God,
and of baptism and the gift of the Holy
Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when
eight years old, the sin be upon the head of
the parents, for this shall be a law unto the
inhabitants of Zion or any of her Stakes
which are organized ; and their children
shall be baptized for the remission of their
sins, when eight years old and receive the
laying on of the hands; and they shall also
graft, the spiritual knitting together is that
of divine law, and what God has thus joined
no man can put asunder. Divorces are
possible only where the union remains me-
chanical (as when the graft refuses to
grow). Conventional bonds may hold two
such beings together during mortal proba-
tion ; but nothing save a spiritual interming-
ling of life with life can make the marriage
eternal.
Of course every effort is made to prevent
hasty action in ill-mated marriages, and to
remove, if possible, the cause of friction, to
the end that the parties may find the true
basis of becoming one. In many, perhaps
most, cases, marriages entered into on
wrong lines, may thus be righted ; but where
the bond continues to be mechanical, show-
ing so signs of becoming organic, and pro-
duces irritation rather than love and har-
mony, manifestly the principles of salva-
tion are sub-served by a divorce. But sep-
arations of this kind are not very common,
and will become fewer as the Latter-day
Saints come into the full heritage of the
Gospel ; for then marriage will not take
place from any other motive than the beget-
ting of a righteous posterity ; in other words,
396 The Mormon Point of View.
teach their children to pray and to walk
uprightly before the Lord "*
The virile part of instruction, however, is
always example ; to which end parents must
live a life worthy of imitation. This in-
volves, among other things the keeping of
the 'Word of Wisdom/ a revelation to the
Prophet Joseph enjoining abstinence from
all narcotic and alcoholic stimulants; such
as tea, coffee, tobacco, beer, wine and whis-
key; also from meats save in times of cold
weather or famine. Let us not forget, in this
connection that we are considering the ques-
tion of whether the Mormon family is likely
to survive, in the sense of being fitter to
survive, that the ideal against which it is
in competition now, were there no other
factor in the social life of Mormonism than
this same living according to the 'Word of
Wisdom,' it alone would be conclusive. Pre-
serve intact the integrity of the nervous
system for a generation or two, and you
cannot fail to have a race vitally superior
to one which has been undermined genera-
tion after generation by neuratic poisons.
Another ideal associated with the rearing
of children is one already referred to; viz,
^Doctrine and Covenants, p. 251.
The Mormon Family.
397
the obligation to ceaseless industry. "Let
every man be diligent in all things," says
the Lord in a revelation to Joseph Smith.
"And the idler shall have no place in the
Church, except he repent and mend his
ways."* Here is another passage: "Thou
shalt not be idle; for he that is idle shall
not eat the bread nor wear the garments
of the laborer." fSo also in another revela-
tion: "And the inhabitants of Zion also
shall remember their labors . . .in all faith-
fulness; for the idler shall be had in re-
membrance before the Lord."** as before
suggested these injunctions may be regarded
as merely re-emphasizing the work-side of
the fourth commandment, which had been
lost sight of as a moral duty.
Be this as it may, the point to be con-
sidered here is the contribution which honest
toil, when joined with temperance and fru-
gality, makes toward the building up of a
virile race. Did space permit, it would not
be difficult to show that the greatest bless-
ing given to mankind, — and one, morover
without which salvation in Heaven or even
'Doctrine and Covenants, p. 264.
tlbid, p. 173.
•• Ibid. 251.
The Mormon Family.
399
of eternal life, will there be any station in
the world of thought and enlightened pro-
gress that he will not ultimately fill?
I have thus outlined in brief some of the
ideals clustering around the marriage cov-
enant ; and the consequent power which such
ideals give toward race stability. There is
(i) a recognition of the eternal nature of
that covenant and hence the power such
an ideal gives to combat the present social
tendency toward divorce; (2) there is the
recognition of the object of marriage as that
of begetting offspring, with an enlightened
understanding of the reasons therefore both
immediate and ultimate, and hence the pow-
er to combat the present social tendency to
race suicide; (3) there is the recognition
of the duty to rear children in the fear of
the Lord, and therefore the power of prepet-
uating "Mormonism:" (4) there is the
avoidance of narcotics and all other nerve
poisons, and consequently the power to keep
up the highest of physical and mental vi-
tality; (5) there is the recognition of thrift
and industry as a moral duty, not only for
the sake of a living on earth, but as the only
means of attaining eternal life, and hence
the power which work compels of living
398 The Mormon Point of View.
civilization on earth, would be impossible, —
is this same necessity of daily labor, so long
decried by orthodox theology as the curse
of Adam. It is a blessing even to him who
accepts it with the spirit of a slave, espec-
ially when compared with the demoralizing
effects of idleness ; but it is a greater bless-
ing to him who meets it with a glad heart,
and recognizes in it, not only the means of
winning a livelihood on earth, but the only
means of carving out the life eternal.
A fundamental tenet of Mormonism is
that 'no man can be saved in ignorance.'
Joseph Smith declared that 'a man is saved
no faster than be gains intelligence;' also
that 'the glory of God is intelligence.' It
is only as man becomes like God that he is
saved. There is only one way to become
like Him: that is by progressively attaining
intelligence. It follows that no man can
rear a family acording to the Mormon ideal
without giving his children every advantage
within his power toward securing an educa-
tion. The needs of social service, — the work
to be done in the world, — would alone suf-
fice to stimulate this aspect of Mormon so-
cial evolution ; when those needs however
are re-enforced by the Mormon's very hope
400 The Mormon Point of View.
ever in touch with the wholsome influences
of the natural world ; (6) there is finally
the recognition of intelligence not only as
the master key to all social service on earth,
but as the very nature and essence of salva-
tion and exaltation in a world to come, and
hence the probability that Mormons will
ultimately be at the very forefront of all en-
lightened movements for the replenishing
and subduing' of this planet.
Consider next what environment is con-
tributing to Mormon fitness to survive?
the Rocky Mountains, inaccessible save as
conquered by the pick and drill ; the desert,
silent and sullen save as man compels the
disclosure of its hidden stores of wealth;
the clear sky, the untainted atmosphere, the
boundless freedom of open areas, the brood-
ing of overshadowing peaks and ranges,—
all these factors are silently imparting a
largeness of ideals, a strength and rugged-
ness of character, and a dominancy of man-
hood which cannot fail to make themselves
felt more and more in the affairs of man-
kind.
Another environment equally potent for
the future of the race is to be found in
the very nature of the Mormon family it-
The Mormon Family.
401
402 The Mormon Point of View.
self. Where many children live together,
the democratic virtues, as well as those more
refined qualities summed up in the word
altruism, cannot fail to thrive. Industry,
self-reliance, mutual forbearance, the give-
and-take spirit, fraternal sympathy — all the
qualities so essential to a republic have
•their birth-place in such a family. Nor is it
easy to see how they could be born, let alone
thrive, in the selfish atmosphere of the pres-
ent so-called American ideal. Will any
sociologist advocate the thought that this
nation could have come into existence, had
it been necessary to recruit the Continental
army from the superaesthetic pairs or trios
of the present fashionable family? Could
even the notion of freedom have been en-
gendered from such social narrowness?
Fancy Benjamin Franklin the beribboned
Fauntleroy of an American palace, instead
of the thirteenth child of a family of fifteen !
There still is another factor, which,
though it comes rather within the purview
of faith than of scientific research, is none
the less to be reckoned with in estimating
the momentum of Mormonism upon future
ages. As before suggested, it is incredible
to Latter-day Saints that mere change of
The Mormon Family. 403
VI.
PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED— CONCLUSION.
Before the conclusion reached at the close
of the last chapter can be realized,Latter-day
Saints must master certain problems which
are even now conforting them ; problems of
a distinctly disintegrating character.
The first I shajl mention is a growing
tendency among would-be fashionable fam-
ilies in our midst to be ashamed of and want
to apologize for their large families. In
other cases they have taken care that there
should be no occasion for such apology.
Both types are often among the most highly
respected people of our towns and villages.
I call to mind now one professor in our
Church schools to whose fireside only the
fashionable two have yet been permitted to
come. In my opening chapter I suggested
that such people, though in the Church, were
not really of it. They may have been of it
at one time, but sentimentality of this type is
foreign to the sturdiness of Mormonism ; it
is in fact, comparable only to the yellowness
ideal should alone be responsible for their
marvelous fertility; their faith is direct and
simple enough to believe that the God who
made Sarah's womb fruitful, and heard the
prayers of Hannah and Elizabeth, is like-
wise blessing them with the care of glorious
spirits which the world at large are reject-
ing. In short they believe that being born
is no more an accidental occurrence,than go-
ing to a new country. We all lived in
heaven during a pre-existence antedating
earth-life perhaps by millions of years; we
are called to be born on earth by a law as
inevitable as the law which takes us from
the earth again. Consequently spirits go,
on the earth-plane, where God distributes
them; and herein lies the chief reason why
Mormons believe in the transcendent mis-
sion their posperity is to play in the affairs
of the world; not only transcendent as to
numbers, but also as to leadership. In short
they believe that through this same despised
and universally contemned lineage will be
ushered in eventually, the Millennium, or
Christ's reign on earth.
404 The Mormon Point of View.
which occasionally strikes some limb of an
otherwise healthy tree; whereby we know
that nature is beginning the process of
sloughing that branch.
Various plausible excuses are put for-
ward, if this attitude be questioned ; as, "My
wife's health will not permit her to raise a
family" (which would be legitamate enough
if it were true. She is often well enough,
however, for euchre parties three or four
nights a week). Or, "We desire to get a
home-nest before we get birdies," which is
generally a very transparent subterfuge. I
happen to know (from personal experience)
that a child may be well-born even in a dug-
out Or, "We do not believe in large fam-
ilies: we believe it is better to raise one
or two children in culture and refinement,
than half a dozen in poverty. The world
would be better off if— etc." This latter
argument leads directly to the justification
urged by Malthus.
Let no man deceive himself: these ar-
guments, however cunningly they may be
dressed up, are no part of the spirit and
genius of Mormonism. Tear off the mask
and one sees at a glance their real hue and
bias. They are the old justifications put
The Mormon Family.
405
forward by the ideal which now all but com-
pletely foredooms Babylon ; and they spring
from precisely the same old root of desire
for personal ease and comfort; disguised
perhaps as culture, love of refinement, fash-
ion, and ostentation. Given selfishness,
which lurks in every human heart, and a.
good bank account and presently we shalB
have — no matter where, whether in Mormons
or in heathen land, — a marriage between?
them which shall give birth to pomp> audi
show, sham and artificiality, everything bat
children. Such people will have carriages
and fine horses, or perhaps automobiles;
they will even have poodles and lapdogs,
but they draw the line at their own off-
spring. And on the whole, this is well ; for
should such selfishness pile up generation
after generation, it would at last become
monumental.
The treatment of this defection amongf
Latter-day Saints must for the most part
be constitutional. Establish again between
them and God the communion which we
speak of as an abiding testimony of the Gos-
pel, and the Malthusian ideal of family life
will soon give way to the Bible ideal. Often,
however, the remedy needs to be local as
The Mormon Family.
407
nearly even, the male and female popula-
tion. What subtle poison is it, then, that
she distils into the veins of the male sex,
to make the number of men fit for married
life comparatively smaller than the number
of women? Everywhere in the world does
this seem to be the case. The disproportion
seems not to be so great among Latter-day
Saints, though just what it is cannot be told
in percentages. From the very difficulty of
drawing the line of fitness, this disparity
must ever remain a general quality; and
yet there it is, recognizable in all our wards,
by any one who will give attention to a gen-
eral comparison of the sexes.
Manifestly the working out of this prob-
lem lies in the direction of making every
boy worthy as a husband of his birth-mate
girl; not only worthy of her, but willing
to assume the responsibility of honorable
wedlock. Seriously, let me ask, have we
as Latter-day Saints done all that we might
have done in this direction?
The answer must be an unequivocal no.
We have not even waked up to a realization
of where the 'defection in character comes
in. I spoke just now of nature distilling the
weakness into the veins of the male. This
406^ .,The Mormon Point of View.
well ; yolng married people must be taught
the folly of putting off till a later period in
vlife the begetting of children while they en-
joy the pleasures of society and amass
wealth and physical comforts. A day comes
at last when they will reap a harvest of re-
morse. Even in the fashionable circles of
the world,— such is the testimony of physi-
cians, women, who, while young and attrac-
tive were willing to go through fire and
water to avoid maternity, would, when it
becomes too late, go through hell-fire itself,
if thereby they might retrieve the conse-
quences of their folly. Among Latter-day
Saints the remorse is more terrible by how
much the sinners realize more truly what
they have lost
The next problem is that which results
directly from our having given up plural
marriage. How, under present social cir-
cumstances, shall we make good the ideal
that every woman worthy of maternity, has
natural inalienable right to a husband and
children; as truly so as that every worthy
man has a natural inalienable right to a
wife and children?
Nature seems to provide for this social
equality of the sexes, by keeping even, or
408 The Mormon Point of View.
■seems, however, very improbable. Of twins,
begotten by the same impulse, and sub-
ject to the same parental influences, is it ra-
tional to believe that the boy inherits tenden-
cies which shall make him unworthy the re-
sponsibilities of wedlock, and that the girl
does not? The trouble will be found, I
think, in the fact that we have a double
moral standard for the bringing up of chil-
dren. We may think that this is not the
case, so naturally and unconsciously does
the race transmit the distinctions between
■what boys may do, and what girls may do.
To bring out the fact of this double standard
of training, which, be it remembered, begins
with infancy and does not end till parents
lose all control, just suppose your girls at-
tempting to do what you excuse in your
boys; or suppose your boys restricted in
deportment and conduct by the moral code
which it seems so natural to impose upon
girls. Is not the fact plain?
In this inequality of training lies, I be-
lieve, the cause of much of the disparity in
the outcome of connubial worthiness. In-
teresting as is this question, space will not
permit me to enter into it. Indeed, a theme
even as long as this one, would hardly do
The Mormon Family.
409
it justice. However, it is surely worthy of
our most careful investigation. On the face
of it, there seems no radical reason why all
our young men should not be fitted, individ-
ual for individual, to mate with our young
women, and when this reform shall have
"been brought about, the problem of not
abridging woman's right to marry and beget
children, any more than man's, is now
abridged, will have been largely solved with-
out the intervention of plural marriage.
A third problem which thereatens the dis-
integration of Mormonism is the unmiti-
gated curse of accumulating, and especially
of bequeathing much wealth. Most truly
did the poet say, — more truly than he could
possibly have known —
"111 fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay."
The mere accumulation, brings, as we
have seen in nine cases out of ten, the curse
of diverting a man from the true, eternal
purposes of life and makes him follow a
trivial earthly substitute,— a blind but
gaudily lighted trail, which must inevitably
end in an abyss. But the accumulation, can-
The Mormon Family.
411
the camel, and the eye of a needle ; making
the latter merely a small gate, where the
camel's load had to be taken off. But the
problem of a rich man's entering the King-
dom of God appeals to me. I rather believe
in the old interpertation, in which the needle
was a needle ; for the curse upon the accum-
ulator of riches is that they take man away
from the God he found in days of poverty;
the curse they bring to him who inherits
them is that he developes no desire to find
God, nor even things Godly.
Thank Heaven for the social conditions
which have scattered the wealth of Zion
evenly, so that none are very poor, none
very rich, and all must labor for their daily
bread. The problem on which the perpetu-
ity of the Mormon family ideal depends, is
to keep up this industrial equality. Let no
Latter-day Saint shape his business so as to
leave wealth to his children. If there is
danger of it, let him beget more children
and see to it that when they have been
equipped for life by all the power that home
training and a liberal education can give, —
equipped with flawless bodies and virile
minds, — there shall be no patrimony left to
quarrel about. Thus shall he set their faces
and nerve their hearts for the struggle wit'i
life ; the glorious struggle which has solva-
tion and exaltation bound up with it, and
which is no more felt by the inheritor of
wealth than if he were a golden chrysalis
410 The Mormon Point of View.
not from the verv nature of the reactions
for good which are bound up in the word
accumulate bring to the posessor a tithe of
the damnation which the bequeathing of
wealth brings to the recipient.
Think what opportunities for character
developement such a father robs his son of 1
To be born in a palace is a calamity which
nothing in the rich man's life can compen-
sate for. Instead of the winter morning
tingling his ears and toes as he moves about
doing his chores, chopping wood, carrying
water, milking cows, feeding horses, shuck-
ing corn, instead of the hot summer day
filled with toil, and sweat, and gnats in his
hair, and a thousand anxieties about a thou-
sand duties; instead of the natural earth
and sky, and sun, moon, and stars, and all
the wealth of the universe that God spreads
out to mould and fashion us, through pain
and pleasure, hunger, thirst, and however
else the infinite can get in its whack at our
sluggish finite — instead of all this life open
to the poor boy, behold him, the princeling,
yawning upon immaculate pillows an hour
after sunrise, and reaching sleepily out to
touch a button ! How must the angels weep
to behold such a spectable of effeminacy I
How can such a child ever be born of
God? How can his soul he stirred to the
harmonies of the universe? How can he
ever be saved ? It has become fashionable to
spiritualize Christ's parable of the rich man,
412 The Mormon Point of View.
sleeping the ages through in an ebony co-
coon. If these children in turn shall win;
undue wealth, let them use it so as to leave
their offspring poor; never forgetting that
the greatest blessing any mortal can be
born to here below is life untrammeled by
artificial accumulations.
But all the problems of the Lattei-day
Saints are summed up in the one problem:
how to awaken the spiritual life in their
children, and how to keep the divine torch
ablaze. To make them members of the
Church is very easy — by baptizing them:
when they are eight years of age. They
are thus in the kingdom, but not of it. Nor
will they ever be of it by anything that any-
one else can do for them ; each must be born 1
of God on his own account, before his life
can vitally mingle with the life of the
Church. When, however, he is so made
one with Christ, he will perpetuate the Mor-
mon ideal of family life as surely as the
bud which grows will in due time blossom
and bear fruit after its kind.
On this divine basis, and on this alone.wilf
the Latter-day Saint be instrumental in ful-
filling the promises made to Abramam : that
his seed should become as numerous as the
stars in Heaven or the sands upon the sea
shore; and thereby should the nations of
the earth be blessed.
ERRATA.
Vote.— Being absent in the Eastern States when No. 4
was published, I was obliged to trust the proof-reading to
another, with the results indicated below. Corrections
are in bold- face type.
I 'age 315. Kindness for Kindnes; Oh'forO,
324. persists for presists; homeward for hom-
ward.
325. across for aoros; yawns for yearns.
328. sly for shy.
333. I for 1.
341. number for nuramer.
343. succeed for succeeded.
345. conservatively for conservative.
353. have for had; knitting for knotting.
354. quantity for quality.
i67. shalt for shall; stratum for statum.
372. Read: descendants of New England stock.
380. Instead of 3rd line read: dies within them.
How pathetic is that ; also their for the
before inevitable, and Suppose for Sup-
posing.
386. Foot note should be at bottom of page.
390. strangely lighting for light in.
391. into neat for with neat; indissoluble for ln-
disoluble; shall for shal.
392. Is for if, on 3rd line from bottom,
394. no signs for so signs.
396. than the ideal for that etc; Were for were;
Neurotic for neuratic.
397. As before for as etc; has been lost for had
etc: moreover for morover.
398. according for acording.
399. therefor for therefore; perpetuating for
prepetuating.
402. posterity for posperlty.
404. legitimate for legitamate.
" 406. Read: a natural inalienable right.
407. quantity for quality.
408. prenatal for parental.
409. Inevitably for lnevilably.
410. spectacle for spectable.
411. Read : appeals to me as next to Impossible.
412. Abraham for Abramam.
To be pasted at the end of No. 4, Mormon Point of View .
For a complete catalogue send to:
CATALOGUE A. P.O. Box 612. West Jordan. Utah. 84084
103
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